Complaints about TV sex double

The number of complaints made to the Broadcasting Standards Commission about sexually explicit, inaccurate or insensitive material has doubled in the past year, it was revealed today.

Programmes such as EastEnders and Coronation Street came under renewed fire by the TV watchdog in its annual report for allowing storylines with sex and violence to creep into pre-watershed programmes.

The commission said it was worried that "vulnerable sections of the community" were being exposed to racy plotlines and sexually explicit material normally only suitable for broadcast after 9pm.

Janine Butcher's prostitution and cocaine addiction on EastEnders, and Corrie's Gail Platt marrying a man who murdered his wife are among storylines that have raised concern that young viewers are being exposed to unduly disturbing material. The number of complaints made to the commission rose from 4,920 in 12 months to 7,183, an increase of 46 per cent.

The item that received the most complaints was a news report falsely attributing the foot-and-mouth outbreak to the Chinese restaurant trade.

The report, on ITN-run News Direct, prompted 1,082 complaints. The infamous Brass Eye paedophilia programme received 246 complaints from viewers, while a BBC1 Question Time special - in which a number of panelists attacked US foreign policy immediately after 11 September - attracted 217 complaints about insensitivity. Only the complaint about Brass Eye was upheld.