A BARRY resident’s complaint about the town’s portrayal on a national television channel has been dismissed by the body considering the issue.

The viewer, who watched via On Demand and who did not want to be named, lodged a complaint about Karaoke Nights which was originally screened on Channel 4 just before Christmas last year – before temporarily being available on the catch-up service.

Programme makers said Karaoke Nights was an accurate portrayal of town life, but residents said it had depicted an unrealistic view of people's behaviour.

The body considering the concerns was the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) –the independent co-regulator for the editorial content of UK video on demand services.

ATVOD policy and Investigations officer Jhaapjeet Chodha said: “After reviewing the complaint and responses from Channel 4, we have concluded that your complaint does not raise an issue which could amount to a breach of ATVOD’s rules.

“The statutory requirements that apply to video on-demand services are not the same as for traditional television broadcasts, and there are a limited number of situations in which ATVOD is able to take action.

“We considered whether your complaint raised an issue which could amount to a potential breach of ATVOD’s Rule 10 Harmful Material: Material Likely to Incite Hatred which states that an on-demand programme service must not contain any material likely to incite hatred based on race, sex, religion or nationality or Rule 11 Harmful Material: Protection of Under Eighteens which states that 'if an on-demand programme service contains material which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of persons under the age of eighteen, the material must be made available in a manner which secures that such persons will not normally see or hear it.’ However, the matter was not considered one which raised issues of incitement to hatred or impairment of children’s development.”