BBC forced to scrap Wimbledon trailer

The BBC has been forced to issue an embarrassing public apology after being inundated with complaints about its controversial Wimbledon trailer.

The corporat ion has stopped airing the advertisement - which shows a tennis player shattering as she stretches for a shot - during children's programmes after receiving 140 complaints.

And it will not be shown during other programmes watched by children, including EastEnders, Neighbours, Top of the Pops and Dr Who.

The trailer shows a player being beaten to the tune of Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) by Nancy Sinatra.

Her arm cracks, then shatters before she falls and smashes into pieces with the commentary: "See the makingand breaking of champions."

The BBC apology came after a letter from a tennis fan in Banbury was published in a national newspaper.

Elizabeth Young, 68, who still plays, wrote: "Am I the only person to find the BBC advertisement for this year's Wimbledon championship broadcasts utterly distasteful?"

It turned out she was not. The BBC said in a statement: "The trailer has been running for 10 days and we have received 140 complaints. [It] was not intended to offend or upset anyone and we apologise if it has offended some viewers.

"The image of the player shattering is meant to look like china shattering but in a delicate way. By showing that one player has broken it implies that the other is the winner.

"The intention is to portray the physical and mental pressure of playing tennis at such a high-profile championship and the idea that Wimbledon is the tournament that makes or breaks players."

Mrs Young, a semi-retired company director, said: "What distressed me was the crashing. I thought, 'That's disgusting.' I was not alone. I think it is all part of the general ethos of nastiness these days. It is the attitude that everything must be confrontation."

Dave Turtle, spokesman for taste and decency campaign Mediawatch UK, said: "Tennis is supposed to be a positive sport, not something that is negative or damaging."