British films may struggle to receive future Oscar nominations because of plans to move the awards ceremony forward by two weeks, it has been claimed.

Cinema experts warned a rearranged awards season timetable set to be introduced in 2020 could impact the chances of best picture contenders created in the UK.

Next year's ceremony takes place at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on February 24. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the 2020 ceremony will be held on February 9.

British film distributors and critics said the date shift will cause a “crush” of films being released within the awards corridor over Christmas, which will make it harder to stake claims for honours.

Film critic Anna Smith, President of The Critics' Circle, told The Daily Telegraph: “The Oscar date shift will have huge repercussions across the industry - the structure of awards season is finely-tuned and every department is going to be affected.

"With a shorter timeframe to cram in all the awards contenders, and the issue of the Christmas holidays in the middle, independent films and non-American titles seem particularly likely to be affected, so UK titles - especially those without huge marketing budgets - would be right to be worried.