Brighton-based actor Steven Berkoff has been deported from the United States for overstaying his visa by one day - five years ago.

Mr Berkoff was detained by immigration officials on Tuesday after they discovered the overstay on their records.

The actor, who lives in Brighton, had been due to give a lecture at a festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but was instead placed on a flight back home. He last night rounded on immigration officials accusing them of "post-September 11 hysteria".

Mr Berkoff, whose film credits include A Clockwork Orange and Beverley Hills Cop, said: "This trivial infringement was enough to give this lowly clerk with a gun holster the right to play God.

"Although I was expected to give a lecture, I was kept back, shadowed like a criminal and put straight on a plane back."

Berkoff, 64, said immigration officials were getting tough on visa violations after the Twin Towers tragedy.

The acclaimed theatre actor and director said: "While they throw the baby out with the bathwater, they have alienated a great ally of the US.

"I have been visiting the USA for more than 20 years and have performed there and in recent years have received plaudits for my work in the New York theatre.

"I wrote a memorial for September 11 in the form of a long poem, which I was invited to read on the anniversary of the disaster. The irony is that this now seems unlikely."