'Little Britain' cuts risqué scenes

Scenes from the new series of the award-winning comedy show Little Britain have been deemed too controversial for BBC1 and will be cut before it is shown in December.

Scenes from the new series of the award-winning comedy show Little Britain have been deemed too controversial for BBC1 and will be cut before it is shown in December.

The creators of the sketch show - featuring characters such as Dafydd, "the only gay in the village", and a Women's Institute member who vomits on a vicar - have remade sections in preparation for the transfer from BBC3. Little Britain was created for the digital channel, whose target audience is viewers aged 24 to 35.

Although the series will be screened after the watershed, BBC1's controller, Lorraine Heggessey, is unwilling to risk offending audiences.

The stars of Little Britain - Matt Lucas and David Walliams - have already rewritten scenes. "It was decided before production that it was going to BBC1 and Matt and David have had that in mind. They have made a few alterations to certain expressions and in some of the risqué scenes without losing the gist," said a BBC spokeswoman.

Little Britain was voted most popular comedy at the National Television Awards this week. The second series opened on BBC3 last week with an audience of 1.8 million.