Denbigh fury at ‘Village of the Damned’ slur
PRODUCERS of a TV programme hunting for ghosts in Denbigh have branded the town the “village of the damned” and claimed the place is “cursed by witches”.
The description appears as the official programme information on Living TV’s Most Haunted Live show being recorded in Denbigh throughout the week.
Thousands of viewers of the satellite TV channel on Saturday were greeted with the following write-up on screen: “Most Haunted Live: Village of the Damned. First of seven spooky nights of paranormal investigation in Denbigh, a Welsh village cursed by witches. The team try to conjure up the spirit of one of the witches.”
The unflattering depiction of Denbigh drew fresh anger last night on top of criticism already levelled at the show from local paranormal investigators and a mental health charity.
Tonight, Denbigh’s councillors are set to discuss the series and the stunts being carried out by the TV ghost-hunters around the town.
Producers are already under fire for putting ghost-hunters in straitjackets as they film inside the former North Wales psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Denbigh.
On Saturday night, two team members dressed in straitjackets entered separate makeshift padded cells in the building, which began life as a 19th century Victorian asylum.
In fact, padded cells were never used at the North Wales Hospital, which closed in 1995.
One of the team could be seen moving around the room before finally sitting and rocking to and fro while others tried to communicate with spirits.
The seven-night run led by presenter Yvette Fielding, is set to end with an exorcism and a controlled burning inside church grounds.
Denbigh council chairman Coun Colin Hughes said he was “absolutely fuming” about the show.
The former mayor said many people had raised their concerns, particularly about the town being labelled the “Village of the Damned.”
“I am disgusted that this production company have waltzed into Denbigh and seemingly poked fun at mental illness,” he said.
“This is extremely crass and in bad taste and has upset and insulted a lot of people in the town.”
And Coun Rev Margaret Baker hit out at plans to burn the grounds at a church in an exorcism in a bid to rid the area of the spirits of three witches.
She said: “None of it is true, how can they exorcise something that isn’t there? It seems someone is playing jokes – this has caused upset to a lot of people.”
The makers of Most Haunted Live told the Daily Post last week: “In no way do we condone the stigmatising of mental illness or those who suffer with it for the purpose of entertainment. The experiments will in no way belittle or make fun of the patients.”
The show is aired this week on Living TV ending this Friday.
