Brave beats Bourne Legacy at UK box office

Brave, about a medieval Scottish princess, is Disney Pixar's first animation with a female protagonist

Animated film fantasy Brave has claimed top spot in the UK and Ireland box office chart, holding off competition from The Bourne Legacy.

Disney-Pixar adventure Brave earned £5.2m from 553 screens in its first weekend on full release.

The Bourne Legacy entered in second place with £4.6m.

Comedy Ted slipped into third place, while action sequel The Expendables 2 took just under £2m to enter in a disappointing fourth place.

By contrast, The Expendables 2 stormed the US box office chart to take the number one spot this week, knocking the Bourne Legacy into second place.

The full-throttle film sequel, which stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger took $28.8m (£18.3m) over the weekend in the US and Canada.

Combined takings of the top 15 films in the UK and Ireland between Friday and Sunday was £17.8m - up almost £10m on the previous weekend.

The Dark Knight Rises was in sixth place with takings of £1.5m from 440 screens. After five weeks in cinemas, Christopher Nolan's final instalment in the Batman trilogy has now grossed just under £50m.

In Brave, the Scottish princess Merida, voiced by Kelly Macdonald, is the first female lead character in a Pixar film.

The voice cast also includes Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane.