The childhood best friend of the late teen star Corey Haim has criticised the organisers of the Oscars for leaving him out of a memorial montage at Sunday’s ceremony.

Corey Feldman, who co-starred with Corey Haim in Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys when they were both teenagers, said the decision had been a failure on the part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

During the ceremony Twitter users also expressed anger over the omission and the topic became one of the most discussed aspects on the Oscars on the site.

Mr Feldman told gossip website TMZ: “The Academy does not have a handle on who the public adores”.

He said: “Corey's films have earned the industry over a half a billion dollars and his work remains an inspiration to young artists world wide.

“He dedicated his life to the film industry. The same industry that failed to dedicate even 30 seconds to his memory."

The Canadian born Mr Haim was found dead at the age of 38 in his Los Angeles apartment last year.

Although an internationally known name in the 1980s for films including Lucas and License To Drive, he found it difficult to make the transition to adult actor and battled fot years with a well-publicised drug problem.