Harry Potter actor Robbie Coltrane has backed author JK Rowling over her controversial comments about transgender people.

Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the franchise, says there’s a ‘generation of people who wait around to be offended’.

He told the Radio Times: “I don’t think what she said was offensive really. I don’t know why but there’s a whole Twitter generation of people who hang around waiting to be offended.

“They wouldn’t have won the war, would they? That’s me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, ‘Oh, get over yourself. Wise up, stand up straight and carry on’."

The 70 year-old then said he didn’t want to comment further because ‘I don’t want to get involved in all of that because of all the hate mail and all that s***, which I don’t need at my time of life’.

Rowling sparked transphobia allegations back in June when she responded to a headline which read: “Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate”.

She wrote in response: "‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

After receiving a backlash on social media, Rowling wrote a blog post about her comments.

"If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”

Other Harry Potter actors have criticised Rowling, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.