Jamie Bell arrives at the premi�re

The 17-year-old was unaccompanied when he arrived at the screening in Leicester Square.

"I'm here on my own," he told reporters. "I'm too old to bring my mum to premi�res."

The actor recently split up with girlfriend of 18 months, Sheryl McNally.

Other members of the film's cast attended the event, including Jim Broadbent, Charlie Hunnam and Romola Garai.

Stephen Daldry, who directed Bell in Billy Elliot and has remained good friends with the young star, was also among the guests.

Bell plays orphan Smike in the film adaptation of Dickens' classic tale of friendship.

Nickleby is played by fellow British actor, Charlie Hunnam, who is best known for his role as a gay schoolboy in controversial Channel 4 drama Queer As Folk.

The pair received good reviews in the US when the film opened there earlier this year.

Bell's character Smike is tortured in a boarding school for orphans until he is saved by the idealistic Nicholas Nickleby (Hunnam).

Bell became an international success with his screen debut as a ballet dancing youngster in Daldry's Billy Elliot three years ago.