A KENT MP says Channel Four executives should take TV programme Big Brother off air amid growing complaints about alleged racist comments being made against Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Derek Wyatt said he was appalled that programme makers Endemol and Channel Four had not taken any action in response to thousands of complaints that have been made to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, over the celebrity version of the programme.

The MP, until recently a member of the Commons select committee on the media, said: "It should come off the air now.

"I have only seen some of the excerpts but that is enough for me. I do not think we need this quality of programme to be in our faces and I do not think children should be exposed to this kind of behaviour. Enough is enough."

He added: "I may be considered a prude but I find [the behaviour] deeply offensive in a multi-cultural society."

The MP is among those who have signed a parliamentary Early Day Motion condemning the programme.

Meanwhile, Maidstone MP Ann Widdecombe also joined the condemnation and revealed she had turned down approaches to appear.

She said: "I have never watched it and never will. But from what I hear, it is awful and as far as I am concerned it is something which should never have got on air in the first place.

"It is simply a voyeuristic programme that does not serve any purpose. My agent did receive approaches but I said I would never appear in that or I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Around 12,000 people have already complained to Ofcom about the programme.