'Fireman Sam' Producers Apologise After Being Accused Of Islamophobia

Featured image credit: Channel 5

The producers of Fireman Sam have found themselves in troubled water after viewers recently branded the show Islamophobic after a character stepped on a Koran.

Channel 5 has removed the episode 'Troubled Waters', which aired back in October, 2014, from its catch-up service.

The character Elvis can be seen carrying a tray of tea in the scene, before slipping on a stray piece of paper.

Once he falls, the paper floats into the air, showing what looks like an exact copy of a page out of the Koran.

A spokeswoman for Mattel said: "'The page was intended to show illegible text and we deeply regret this error. We sincerely apologise for any distress or offence it may have caused.

"We will no longer be working with the animation studio responsible for this mistake.

"In addition, we are taking immediate action to remove this episode from circulation and we are reviewing our content production procedures to ensure this never happens again.

"Again, we apologise unreservedly to our viewers."

Miqdaad Versi, secretary-general of the Muslim Council, identified the page in question as containing verses 13 to 26 of chapter 67 of the Koran.

Words by Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.