Lib Dems `misled many viewers'

THE LIBERAL Democrats have been censured by a television regulator for attempting to pass off a party political broadcast as News At Ten.

The broadcast, made in the style of a news bulletin and screened last month, went out at 10pm on ITV and was presented by David Walter, a former television journalist.

The Independent Television Commission agreed with complaints that it was misleading and confusing, particularly since a party logo included in much of the film at the request of ITV was indistinct.

The commission said it would now consider insisting that any political broadcast resembling a television programme be clearly labelled throughout.

In its latest complaints bulletin published yesterday, the commission also agreed with concerns raised by 42 viewers about recurring images of mutilation just after the 9pm watershed in the Yorkshire Television mini-series Trial and Retribution II shown on ITV last autumn. Those included a still photograph of a severed breast and footage of a naked woman with slashed and blood-covered breasts.