A BBC TV series about a crime-fighting Rastafarian mouse was the most complained about children’s programme last year.
The show received more than 200 complaints because of the way it “stereotyped black people” and its use of Jamaican patois.
Some parents took to Mumsnet to express fears that children using the same language as the mice in the Bafta-nominated programme could be accused of racism.
A BBC spokesman confirmed that nine out of ten complaints had been about the language spoken by Rastamouse and his Easycrew, but added: “This was one of our most popular children’s programmes last year.
“We have had a huge amount of positive feedback about Rastamouse, which continues to be a hit with our young viewers and which was consistently in the top ten CBeebies shows viewed on iPlayer throughout 2011.”
None of the complaints were upheld.
Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff received more than 2,200 complaints last year after host Matthew Wright made jokes about the death of Scottish teenager Liam Aitchison.