LAST ditch demands to scrap a controversial television show just days before it goes air, have been launched by unions.
Forthcoming documentary Immigration Street focusing on the lives of residents living in the Derby Road area of Southampton is being shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday.
Protestors in the city are fighting a long-running campaign against the programme which they fear will cause friction within the tight-knit multi cultural community to hostility and stigmatism.
Now the TUC is backing protests of the Southampton Communities Alliance calling for it to be cancelled.
It comes just days after programme creators Love Productions announced they are cutting it back from a six episode series to a single show after difficulties filming including an incident when film crews were allegedly threatened with acid.
It also follows scores of marchers crowding outside Channel 4 offices in London for a rally against the programme.
But Channel Four has refused to give in to campaigners' demands to change the show's name and for preview footage to be sent to police and other authorities.
TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: “Channel 4 needs to respect the views of the Southampton community and cancel Immigration Street.
“The show looks set to encourage social division and hostility towards migrants and the black, minority and ethnic community. Instead of such irresponsible broadcasting, the media should expose how communities are suffering from the shocking impact of low wages, lousy contracts and cuts to services.”
Protestors concerns stem from the fallout from the Love Productions' previous show Benefits Street which was criticised for negatively portraying residents living in James Turner Street in Birmingham.
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