Kate Winslet and director husband in split

Lawyer Keith Schilling said: "Kate and Sam are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year.

"The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children."

He said there would be no further comment from the couple, who have split their time between Greenwich Village in New York and their home in the Cotswolds.

Winslet, 34, and Mendes, both originally from Reading, tied the knot during a holiday in the West Indies in May 2003. The actress's daughter from her first marriage, Mia, was present at the event which was attended by just three of their friends.

They had made their first British public appearance together in 2002 when they attended the premiere of Mendes's second film, The Road To Perdition.

Winslet was married for little over three years to Yorkshire-born assistant director Jim Threapleton, whom she had met on the set of film Hideous Kinky. They divorced in December 2001. Mendes's past loves have included actresses Jane Horrocks and Rachel Weisz.

The couple have a son Joe who was born in December 2003.

Last year Winslet won a Best Actress Oscar for The Reader – after being nominated for an Academy Award five times previously without success – propelling her into the movie star super league.

Mendes, 44, won his best director award in 2000 for his film debut American Beauty.

The pair worked together on Mendes's fourth film Revolutionary Road in 2008.