A TELEVISION programme has come under fire after a character said she wanted to kill former Weymouth schoolgirl Perrie Edwards.

Holby City, which aired on BBC One on Tuesday night, showed a scene where a teen obsessed with Perrie’s fiancé Zayn Malik said she wanted to stalk Perrie and ‘cut off her head with a rusty chainsaw.’

Perrie’s mum Debbie told the Echo this morning that her daughter is ‘distraught’ about what was said but that she is unable to comment on the situation at the moment. 

As the episode aired, she had Tweeted ‘Anyone watching Holby City? Really Upset.com x’

Fans rushed to the Little Mix singer’s defence on Twitter, saying that the Holby City episode made it acceptable for trolls to threaten celebrities.

A BBC spokesman said the words were 'not intended to be taken seriously and clearly in the context it is not intended to cause offence.'