'INSENSITIVE'
ITV crew slammed for filming Milly Dowler drama at spot where she vanished on the anniversary of her murder
TV bosses have been slammed for filming a drama about the murder of Milly Dowler on the 16th anniversary of her death.
ITV drama Manhunt has sparked fury after an actor was spotted playing Levi Bellfield at the exact location where the 13-year-old went missing near Walton-on Thames, Surrey.
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Critics are campaigning for it to be scrapped claiming the scenes will "haunt" Milly's family, reports.
A resident told the paper: "Milly’s murder happened a long time ago and people are reluctant to be bringing it up again.
"Why film it here at all? It’s raking up the past.”
Martin Clunes stars as the detective who snared the monster and was seen shooting scenes at the bus-stop where Milly was last seen.
Jo Collings, mother of two of Bellfield’s children, said: “To film on the anniversary is harsh.
"They could have done it before or after. It is already hard enough for the family without this.
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Police interview Levi Bellfield
"It will be horrific for Milly’s family, reliving the agony of what happened."
Evil Bellfield is played by Welsh actor Celyn Jones, 38, and Clunes plays Chief Insp Colin Sutton.
The killer was convicted over Milly's death in 2011. He was already in jail for the murder and attempted murder of three other young women.
TV crews filmed in the West Drayton, flat where Bellfield, now 49, lived when cops swooped to arrest him.
Neighbours reported the road being blocked off and cars being clamped - to show Bellfield's job as a car clamper.
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His ex, Jo, told the paper that the killer will be relishing the attention form the new drama.
She said: "“He will be loving this, the thought of his crimes being played out on TV.
"He will be sat in his cell loving it.
"He watches everything that he features in. That’s why he admitted killing Milly and then retracted it."
She says producers of Manhunt contacted her to tell her the drama would be an "Inspector Morse-type programme."
It is written by Waking The Dead and Silent Witness scribe Ed Whitmore.
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An ITV spokesman said: “Manhunt depicts the investigation into the murder of Amelie Delagrange, which was then linked to the murder of Marsha McDonnell.
"The drama also refers to the murder of Milly Dowler.
"The makers have striven to authentically portray the police investigation. And the families of the victims were contacted before filming began.”
Day 4 of Milly Dowler trial
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