ITV criticised for untimely 'The Bill' trailer

A trailer for The Bill’s child abduction plot was criticised by TV regulators today after being screened during a documentary about the killing of James Bulger.

The Independent Television Commission, the television regulator in Britain, said the scheduling of the advert for the police soap on ITV1 broke programme rules.

Viewers complained to the ITC that showing the trailer on February 11 during a documentary marking 10 years since the Liverpool toddler’s death was insensitive.

The trail featured a storyline about the missing daughter of a detective and ended with the caption “The Bill: Abduction”.

It was screened during a programme about how Ralph Bulger coped with his son’s death. ITV has apologised for the “human error”, and has tightened its procedures.