Coronation Street

The Mirror reports that 'hundreds of horrified parents' have complained about a Coronation Street episode which showed a child being smacked.

Viewers saw builder Owen Armstrong slapping his girlfriend's 10-year-old adopted daughter Faye's legs.

Both ITV and media regulator Ofcom confirmed they had received complaints about Monday night's episode.

The Mirror cited a few forum postings and tweets to justify its line: 'hundreds of horrified parents'

Actor Ian Puleston said scriptwriters had treated the storyline cautiously:

From the moment it was suggested, they took it very carefully and slowly, so it took a long time to reach the script stage, and rightly so. I'm happy with the finished result.

An ITV spokeswoman said:

We most certainly don't condone Owen's actions -- as will be seen by the ramifications of the slap, and the effect it has on his relationship.

Claims that Daniel Bartlam's horrific crime might have been inspired by a Coronation Street storyline has fuelled nutter calls for TV soap opera bosses to show more restraint.

The scene in which John Stape murders a colleague with a hammer was found on the teenager's computer along with a montage of violent scenes from other soap operas including Hollyoaks and Emmerdale , horror films and TV crime dramas.

Nutter group Mediawatch-UK has pleaded with producers to take greater responsibility , stressing the dangers sensational storylines pose to young impressionable fans.

In the past five years 18 murders have been committed in the UK's three main soaps and TV watchdog Ofcom is reported to be seeking assurances from broadcasters about the levels of violence being shown.

Coronation Street producers have changed a number of scenes from the soap as they were too similar to the recent death of Stone Roses fan Chris Brahney.

Brahey's body was found in a canal in Manchester after going missing following the band's gig at Heaton Park on 30 June.

The soap was to feature references to a body being pulled out of a canal as part of a plot involving Peter Barlow. Although the scenes did not feature a body being recovered, it included a policeman making multiple references to one being found in a canal.

The new replacement scene will now make no reference to where the body was found.