The performance of a controversial musical highlighting the high-profile story of the disappearance of Shannon Matthews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has come under fire for being 'inappropriate'.
The musical, which has been described as 'a potty-mouthed romp through this bizarre-but-true story', was created by K**** and the Gang, a punk band from Basildon, Essex.
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It is based on the implausible tale of the kidnapping of British schoolgirl Shannon Matthews in 2008 and is showing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe over the next couple of weeks.
The youngster - then aged nine - vanished on her way home from a swimming lesson in Dewsbury, West Yorks, sparking a huge £3.2million search.
Hundreds of neighbours and friends joined the mission with Shannon's mum Karen sobbing on TV as she pleaded for her daughter to come home.
But in a shocking twist, it was revealed the monster mum was behind a plot that saw her daughter drugged and hidden in a divan bed in a callous bid to claim the £50,000 reward.
The show has already been banned from several venues in Yorkshire. And now Dewsbury West Councillor Ammar Anwar on Kirklees Council called for the musical to be pulled from the Fringe.
He told the Scottish Daily Express : "The musical is sick and bang out of order, Imagine being that poor lass Shannon and reliving these cruel and sadistic moments again.
“Let her move on and forget about it. What her so-called family did was disgraceful. This should never be allowed. What that child went through was disgusting and evil."
But Dewsbury MP Mark Eastwood defended the musical and stressed that people have a right to freedom of speech.
Others have taken to social media to back the performance. One Twitter user said: "Shannon Matthews - The Musical. Saw the preview in Leeds at the weekend. It’s amazing."
Another added: "Got my tickets for Shannon Matthews: the musical in Edinburgh in a few weeks"
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Speaking in defence of the musical, K**t's frontman told Yorkshire Live : "I am firmly of the belief that when you joke about things you break down taboos and it opens up the forum for discussion.
"I had never written a musical before and haven't since. The more I saw and read about the case the more extraordinary it seemed, and I just kept getting ideas come to me."
Shannon Matthews: The Musical will is showing at Just the Tonic at The Caves until August 27. The venue warns that it contains "distressing themes, Strong language/swearing".
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