Stephen Fry has quit the social media site, Instagram, telling his fans he was "hounded off" it.

The comic and actor, who has a huge following on social media with 92,000 followers on the picture sharing website alone, said: "Newspapers, as ever, suck all the joy out of everything. Closing down. It was, briefly, fun. Bye."

He posted a blank picture to the page which also included the line "Hounded off. Goodbye".

It is not the first time the entertainer has closed down one of his social media accounts.

Last November he said he had to stop using his Twitter account, which has more than nine million followers, because it was not safe.

In 2009, he threatened to leave the site because there was "too much aggression and unkindness around".

Fry, who is fiercely protective of his private life, recently used his Twitter account to reveal he had married his partner Elliott Spencer.

The QI host posted a picture for his millions of followers showing him and the 27-year-old signing a marriage register.

With the picture Fry tweeted: "Gosh. @ElliottGSpencer and I go into a room as two people, sign a book and leave as one. Amazing."