He's no Goodie ...viewers angry at Oddie over dead squirrel joke

ANOTHER BBC presenter has come under fire after showing a close-up of a dead squirrel on a family programme.

Viewers of BBC2's Autumnwatch complained last night after host Bill Oddie broadcast video film shot at his home in Hampstead. It showed a grey squirrel lying dead next to an electric cable it had tried to bite through. Oddie, 67, was heard laughing as he told viewers: "It's not a sleeping squirrel, he's literally dead," and joked: "You squirrels, don't do it. Better red than dead."

Jane Marshall, 42, who was watching with her three children, said: "It seemed as if Bill Oddie was getting a kick out of filming a dead squirrel."

A BBC statement said today: "Autumnwatch has a duty to show nature 'as it is', which sometimes includes scenes of death."