Alan Fletcher has appeared in pantomime in the UK

Key stars from Australian soap opera Neighbours have walked off the show's set to join a 24-hour strike by actors demanding better employment terms.

Alan Fletcher, who plays Dr Karl Kennedy in the popular soap opera, is among those backing the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union.

The union's demands for higher pay and stricter guidelines for nudity and smoking scenes have already been met but the actors still want a greater share of profits and to be paid when on call.

"The last thing actors want to do is strike. It's complete anathema to us, " said Alan Fletcher.

"But if we don't fight for this now, there's a good chance we would never get it," he added.

Further strikes are planned if the current requests are not granted within a week.

The average Australian actor earns about A$10,000 (�4,100) per year.

Australian television producers say the strike could disrupt shooting schedules and cost about A$140,000 (�57,500) in lost revenue.

"It's extremely unfortunate and disappointing given we seemed to be making headway," said Geoff Brown, executive director of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA).

Giving in to actors' demands could be fatal for some shows, he said last week before the strike took place.

Negotiations have been going on for eight months.

The union say that some cast members are told by a show to keep a whole week free but have all their scenes squeezed into one day.

They then only get paid for that day.

The SPAA say that producers' revenues from broadcast licence fees have remained stagnant for the last decade, while the cost of production has doubled and overseas finance is "drying up".