The BBC has been heavily criticised by child protection agencies over their new reality TV show, The Baby Borrowers.
The show follows five teenage couples aged between 16 and 18 as they struggle to cope with the reality of parenthood.
Local authority officials are furious that real infants and children were handed over to the 'parents' to be looked after and called for the BBC to cancel the production due to the 'very real risk' of physical and psychological damage to the children.
The 8 part series involves the 'parents' going through antenatal classes before being given a baby to look after for three days, then a toddler, an older child and finally a teenager. However, in one episode a child under the age of 10 was left without food for a day and on another occasion, a baby was removed from the care of one couple whose relationship was breaking up.
The BBC ignored calls for the programme to be cancelled saying it is designed to see how young people respond to being a parent at a time when Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
Executive producer Richard McKerrow said the company had advertised for babies and children to take part through parent-support organisations, mother-and-toddler groups and local councils, and real parents of the babies and children watched the action unfold nearby via monitors, along with trained childcare professionals and registered childminders.
Dr Caroline Ball, chairman of Norfolk's Local Safeguarding Children Board, said "The whole project was misconceived. We asked BBC3 to reconsider making the programme from the start because we felt it was irresponsible exploitation."
The show starts on Monday , January 8 on BBC3 and is expected to be shown later in the year on BBC1 or BBC2.
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