THE UK Government has stepped in to stop four works by Francis Bacon from going abroad.

The art works by the seminal British painter, worth £3m, have been halted from leaving the UK by a temporary export bar.

One of the works is the earliest surviving painting by the renowned artist, who lived from 1909 to 1992.

Michael Ellis, the UK arts minister, has placed the export bars on the works, after advice from an expert body.

Bacon was one of the most important British artists of the 20th century.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, to British parents, Bacon ranks alongside Turner and Constable in terms of artistic importance, the UK Government said.

The four items under an export bar include a painted screen valued at £2.5 million.

It was Bacon’s first work in triptych, in which a picture or relief is carved on three panels, attached together and usually presented as an altarpiece.

Completed at the beginning of Bacon’s career around 1930, the screen is thought to be his earliest surviving large-scale work and his earliest surviving figure painting.

The other items placed under an export bar are three rugs that were sold separately at auction.

Valued at £186,000, £166,000 and £146,000 respectively, they were hand-knotted at the Royal Wilton Carpet Factory as part of their Wessex range in 1929.

Mr Ellis said: "Francis Bacon is one of our most respected and renowned artists, whose works had a huge influence on modern art.

"It is right that we try to keep these outstanding works in this country, where they could inspire our next generation of world-class artists."

He was advised on the matter by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.

An independent body, it advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds of the painted screen and the three rugs’ "outstanding aesthetic importance and their value to the study of the works of Francis Bacon, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century."

Richard Calvocoressi, committee member and a former director at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: "Given how much of his work Bacon destroyed, it is crucial that we try to retain these rare early examples in this country.

"Bacon’s first short career as an interior designer, principally of modernist furniture and rugs, informed so much of his later painting – not least his feeling for space and structure."

The decision on the export licence applications for the three rugs and the painted screen will be deferred until 25 July.