Female-led drama film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has swept to victory with five award wins including best film and best lead actress at a politically-charged Bafta awards ceremony.

Stars gathered for a night that saw the red carpet taken over by black in support of the anti-harassment Time's Up movement.

New host Joanna Lumley set the tone at tonight's ceremony by praising the entertainment world's anti-abuse movement.

And it was the charged Three Billboards - following a mother who campaigns for action to solve her daughters murder - that emerged as the clear winner of the night.

The film's director and writer Martin McDonagh said on stage: "I think what we're most proud of about this film, especially in this Time's Up year, is that it's a film about a woman who refuses to take any s**t any more, played by a woman who always refuses to take any s**t."

The film's star and leading actress winner Frances McDormand acknowledged her failure to follow the all-black dress code as she accepted her award, joking: "I have a little trouble with compliance".

She said "I stand in full solidarity with my sisters tonight in black".

The actor praised the "well-organised act of civil disobedience" and added she is "thrilled that activists all over the world have been inspired by the set decoration of the three billboards of Martin's film".

Sam Rockwell also took best supporting actor for his role in the film, dedicating his win to the late Alan Rickman in his speech.

Among the other big winners were Gary Oldman, who was named the best leading actor Bafta for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.

Guillermo del Toro won the best director Bafta for The Shape Of Water.

Allison Janney danced with joy as she picked up the supporting actress award for her role as LaVona Fay Golden, the mother of figure skater Tonya Harding.

Among the other notable award winners was Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya, who missed out on the leading actor gong but picked up the EE Rising Star award.

The full list of winners is:

The awards were attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with Kate among the few who did not strictly follow the black dress code. She chose a dark green dress while her husband was in a black suit.

The talk on the red carpet was largely focused on the scandals over sexual abuse and inequality that have gripped Hollywood and the wider acting industry.

A number of stars chose to bring activists as their dates for the night.

It comes after nearly 200 leading British actresses donated to a new legal fund to help those facing discrimination to to action.

Emma Watson put in £1 million into the fund, while Tom Hiddleston and Keira Knightley each donated £10,000.

Kristen Scott Thomas told ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar on the red carpet that she hopes the campaign "is the beginning of something that our granddaughters will thank us for".

Andrea Riseborough recalled that she had struggled to get herself included on what was slated to be an all-male poster for The Death of Stalin.

"It was a bit of a struggle...I had a bit of a fight to get a woman's face on that poster," she said.

And Kaluuya stressed that the campaign must go out to workplaces - and not just high-profile events.

"There's shouldn't be a moment where we shouldn't strive for equality," he said. "We're doing it here but we need to do it off-carpet, we need to do it in the workplace, in every industry."