More viewers upset by sex on television

THERE IS too much sex on British television according to a growing number of viewers.

A survey by the Broadcasting Standards Commission, Britain's television and radio watchdog, found that almost four out of ten viewers believe that terrestrial TV schedules rely too heavily on sex. The study, out today, found that although violence and bad language are still the biggest worries, sex is catching up fast.

The number of people who said they were concerned about the amount of sex on TV rose from 32 per cent in 1997 to 38 last year with the percentage putting sex top of their worry list almost doubling from 12 to 22 per cent. The number of people whose main complaint was that TV was too violent fell last year from 62 to 58 per cent.

The survey also found that one in five TV programmes contained some form of sex or sexual behaviour but this did not represent an increase on the year before.

A spokeswoman for Channel 5 said: "We are very careful about showing material which may cause offence. We always include warnings."