Yahoo Finance I’m a Celebrity investigated by police amid fears escaped bugs are ruining Welsh countryside
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! is being investigated by police amid fears it could be ruining the Welsh countryside.
Complaints have been made against the show following concerns that the bugs used for the ITV show's bushtucker trials could threaten the estate surrounding Gwrych Castle, where the show is being filmed.
These trials feature insects including spiders, maggots and cockroaches, which are not native to the area.
Springwatch presenter and naturalist Iolo Williams has described using these creatures for entertainment as "madness".
Speaking to The Guardian, Williams acknowledged that the trials are filmed in a contained area, but believes that contestants handling these insects could be unwittingly carrying them back to their camp.
“There are going to be cockroaches in every nook and cranny along their bodies,” Williams said.
"You’re going to tell me that every single one of those is found immediately? Of course it’s not.”
He said tat he "finds it incredible that they're allowed to do this", adding: "I’m not being a killjoy here – why not use fish guts, or offal?”
If the police find that the show has released non-native wildlife into the surrounding area, this means the channel would have breached the Wildlife and Countryside Act as ITV never applied for a licence permitting it to do so.
“The matter is being investigated by officers from our rural crime team," north Wales police confirmed.
A spokesperson for the show said the insects were "only ever released in a contained area and [are] collected immediately after filming".
I’m a Celebrity, which is usually filmed in Australia, continues nightly at 9pm on ITV1.
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