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Young activists frustrated about the lack of diversity in the film industry have recreated famous movie posters and replaced white actors with black people.

London-based activists Legally Black said their posters, which have appeared on bus shelters in Brixton, were created to increase awareness of underrepresentation of black people in the media.

The posters, which recreate advertisements for famous films such as Harry Potter and Titanic, emerged this week.

Bel Matos da Costa, 17, said the group’s first project was also to start a public discussion around the often “inaccurate and harmful” depictions of black people in films and TV programmes.

The campaigner told the Standard: “We just want to show the real range of black experience, and the black experience in Britain… Black actors often only play thugs and criminals, and that needs to change.”

It comes after research by the British Film Institute showed that black actors played only 0.5 per cent of lead roles in British films released between 2006 and 2016.

Reimagined posters of James Bond: Skyfall, Doctor Who and the TV series The Inbetweeners were among those on show on bus stops around south London.

The Doctor Who poster tag line read: “If you’re surprised, it means you don’t see enough black people in major roles. Join us in our mission for better black representation in the media.”

The teenage activists got their family and friends to pose for photos to be used on the mock-up posters.

Shiden Tekle, also 17, said he and his friends’ idea to create posters and put them on display around the capital will “challenge people’s perceptions and assumptions” of black people.

He told the Guardian: “We are always looking at the media and never seeing any positive representations of black people. In big films, black characters are often playing criminals and drug dealers, and that quickly conditions people to believe that all black people are like that.

“So, we decided to put black faces in the big movies, and challenge people’s perceptions and assumptions.”

Images of the posters have been shared widely on social media since they first emerged on Wednesday, with many praising the group for highlighting the industry’s bias.

In statement on the group’s website, Legally Black said of the project: “The aim of the project is to increase awareness surrounding the lack of black representation in the media and furthermore create dialogue and discussion around the often inaccurate and harmful depictions that do occur.”