Home and Away legend Ray Meagher brands Neighbours axe "a travesty"

 "It's a real travesty that it's come to an end."

Home and Away legend Ray Meagher is the latest person to offer his thoughts on Neighbours ending, describing it as a "travesty".

The Ramsay Street soap was confirmed to be axed earlier this year, and with the final scenes for the show already recorded, our time in Erinsborough is nearly over.

"It's devastating," Meagher, who plays Alf Stewart in Summer Bay, said to TV Tonight.

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"It's really sad. It was a trailblazer in that genre. Five episodes a week, sales to the BBC were a first for a soap. They were hugely successful, not just here but all around the world. It's a real travesty that it's come to an end."

Home and Away began in 1988, three years after Neighbours did, so it won't be long before the Sydney-based soap catches up and presumably now overtakes it.

"We've got a few years to go before we catch up to them, assuming we do. Who knows in this day and age?” Meagher added.

But Meagher is confident that Home and Away will end up being the longest-running of the two soaps overall, so much so that he thinks that is virtually unkillable – for a couple of years anyway.

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"I've always thought when our show is as healthy as it is at the moment, that even if it fell into the hands of complete idiots, it would take three years to kill it."

Let's hope for Summer Bay fans that Ray is right!

Meagher's co-star Georgie Parker also recently reacted to Neighbours' axe, telling last month that the news was "very sad for the industry".

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.15pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.

In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7plus.