Midsomers Murders: producer suspended

The producer of ITV hit show Midsomer Murders has been suspended after making comments in an interview to the Radio Times that ethnic minorities had no place in the drama.

He has been quoted as saying the programme set in a group of villages around a fictional town called Midsomer represented the "last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way" and that ethnic minority characters 'wouldn't work'.

ITV and the production company All3Media have said they are shocked and appalled by the producers comments.

The suspended producer, Brian True-May who is also a co-creator adapted the crime novels of Caroline Graham to create a successful franchise that has run for 14 years over 13 series.

He has also been a producer of Ultimate Force an action dramas series revolving around plots about squaddies in the SAS that travel the world foiling terrorist activities.