Bergerac 'disguised extreme poverty in Jersey'

Bergerac ran from 1981 to 1991 and portrayed Jersey as an exciting, glamorous island

The popular image of Jersey portrayed by BBC drama Bergerac disguised high levels of deprivation in the island, Jersey's care inquiry has been told.

A former head of social services has told the inquiry he saw extreme poverty in the island in the 1970s and 1980s.

Anton Skinner started as a Childcare Officer in 1973 and was acting chief executive of health when he retired.

He said until recently Jersey was not a particularly democratic society led by the wealthy elite.

'Feckless and poor'

Bergerac ran on BBC television from 1981 to 1991 and starred John Nettles as detective Jim Bergerac, solving crimes among often glamorous people on what was portrayed as a busy and exciting island.

"Regarding the image Bergerac portrayed, it certainly wasn't like that. There was enormous poverty," Mr Skinner said.

"Until recently it was a sort of patrician community where the good and the great and the monied decided how the feckless and poor should be dealt with."

The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has examined allegations of abuse at the now-closed Haut de la Garenne children's home

Haut de la Garenne was the fictional setting for a police station in Bergerac, but the now-closed children's home has since been examined as part of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry following abuse allegations.

In 2008, the Guardian reported a ground radar search revealed a number of locations where digging had taken place close to the home, leading to fears children may have been buried there.

However, detectives were later told a number of full-size "graves" were dug for an episode of the TV programme.

Speaking to the inquiry, Mr Skinner described visiting one family in the 1970s who lived in a corrugated iron building with a bare earth floor.

Mr Skinner retired from the States of Jersey in 2004 and estimated there were 360 children in care in the 1970s.

Despite the island's problems, he said social workers had limited options for dealing with troubled children in the 1970s and 80s.