Ofcom: ITV wrong over turtle eating

Ofcom has ruled ITV was wrong to show footage of a turtle and frog being eaten in the early evening.

Clips of Bear Grylls's Born Survivor, on Channel 4, were broadcast as part of ITV comical review show Harry Hill’s TV Burp.

The watchdog said the clips were "inappropriately scheduled" after complaints they upset children.

There were also concerns the footage appeared to show the turtle being cooked alive. Ofcom said the breach was exacerbated by producers "editing the clips so that viewers were not aware that the turtle had been killed before being cooked".

Producers had argued the scenes were no more upsetting them other shows in the same slot. They accepted that some viewers “did seem to believe that the turtle had been ‘cooked alive’, which was of course not the case".

They added: "However, unlike the programme makers of Born Survivor, we did not show the killing of this poor animal, which may have led to this confusion."