Council Critisises Harassment of Receptionist

The film crew were in town because the resident was annoyed with debris collecting outside his flat. Although cleaned regularly, discarded rubbish was blown there by the wind. He became so fed up that he collected the rubbish, then dumped it at the Town Hall.

However the Council believes it was wrong for an entirely innocent member of staff to be treated in the way she was. The Council's Marketing & Communications Manager, Kevin Boorman, explained :- "This was nothing more than cheap journalism, and left an entirely innocent member of staff greatly distressed.

"I was particularly annoyed because we'd spent several hours researching facts and figures for this story, at very short notice, for the Politics Show, and I'd agreed to be interviewed myself on it.

"I was then very surprised to be told by our receptionist that she'd just been filmed against her wishes by the BBC, who, without warning, recorded the resident dumping rubbish on the counter again, to re-enact the original incident.