Peppa Pig episode pulled in Australia due to 'spiders can't hurt you' message

An episode of popular children’s cartoon Peppa Pig has been pulled in Australia for a second time after parents complained it encouraged youngsters to play with dangerous spiders.

The 2004 episode Mister Skinny Legs was removed from online viewing by ABC in 2012 after regulators found it sent the “inappropriate” message that spiders were harmless.

In the episode, a terrified Peppa Pig is told by her father that spiders are very small and “can’t hurt you” before the cartoon pig picks the spider up and tucks it into bed.

The cartoon show ends with Peppa declaring: “We are all going to have tea with Mister Skinny Leg".

ABC banned the show from future broadcast, but it was accidentally published online before being aired again on Nickelodeon channel Nick Jr on August 25 this year.

Nick Jr originally defended the decision to air the episode after a mother complained to the channel, saying the episode is “light-hearted, friendly and very mild in impact”.

After contact from Australian media, Nick Jr agreed to remove the programme.

Australia is home to some of the most venomous spiders in the world, including the dangerous redback spider and wolf spider.

A man reportedly died from a bit from a redback spider in April last year, the first fatality from a spider bite in more than 30 years.

According to data released earlier this year, about 12,600 people were admitted to hospital for spider bites between 2000 and 2013.