Basil Brush ‘racist’ claim

Hate crime investigators looking into allegations of racism against travellers in The Basil Brush Show will study a DVD of the programme as part of their investigations.

Northamptonshire Police has contacted the BBC about children’s television show after a member of the travelling community made the complaint at a Countywide Traveller Unit (CTU) meeting.

The anonymous traveller complained about stereotypical images of travellers used in an episode called Fake`s Progress which has been broadcast several times between July 2007 and February this year. The complaint alleges that the show depicts a gypsy woman trying to sell heather and wooden pegs to the puppet, as well as other innuendos about the community.