Ofcom takes no action over Fireman Sam episode showing character ‘treading on Koran’

BROADCASTING watchdogs will not be taking action over a Fireman Sam episode in which a character appeared to tread on the Koran.

In the episode of the children’s TV animation, he slipped after tripping on paper. Several sheets flew into the air, one of which looked to be covered with Arabic script.

Ofcom said that it had received 170 complaints in relation to the Channel 5 children's programme, but would take no action because it could not confirm that the Koran had featured in the episode.

In July, HIT Entertainment, the producer of the programme, issued an unreserved apology and withdrew the episode from circulation.

The company also said it was cancelling its contract with the Chinese animation studio responsible for making the scenes.

A source at Ofcom said the regulator had asked Arabic-speaking staff to examine the scene, but could not confirm that the pages featured had come from the Koran.

A spokesman for the regulator said: "We received a number of complaints about a character appearing to trip on a piece of paper that might have contained text from the Qur’an. After careful assessment, we won’t be investigating.

“We studied a recording of the programme in the highest possible resolution. We found that the page did appear to contain Arabic text, but its contents could not have been deciphered, nor recognised as being from a given text”.

HIT Entertainment, which produces Bob the Builder, Pingu and Thomas the Tank Engine, said it had cut ties with the animation studio it blamed for the mistake.

In a statement at the time, they said: “It has been brought to our attention that in an episode of Fireman Sam an image of the Quran is briefly depicted. 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.”