The Wicker Man director Robin Hardy dies

Film director Robin Hardy has died at the age of 86, a family friend has confirmed.

He was best known for directing cult British film The Wicker Man, starring Sir Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward.

The 1973 film told the story of a police sergeant, played by Woodward, who was sent to search for a missing girl on the fictional Scottish island of Summerisle.

He went on to make a follow-up of the film in 2011, and said last year that he wanted to make a third Wicker Man film as a tribute to Sir Christopher Lee, who died last year.

The Wicker Man was Hardy's feature debut, and he went on to direct only two more feature-length films. The second, The Fantasist, came 13 years after his debut.

In 2010, the Guardian named The Wicker Man the fourth-best horror film of all time, and Sir Christopher Lee said it was the best of the more than 200 films in which he starred.

However, Hardy said in 2013 that the studio initially feared the film was "rubbish and undistributable" and tried to change the ending. It was eventually cut and released as part of a double-bill with the acclaimed horror film Don't Look Now.

However, the studio gave the film a wider release when it received praise on the festival circuit.