ITV producer Brian True-May was suspended after defending his show Midsomer Murders for its “whites only” cast as it appeals to a “certain audience”.

Brian True-May described the long-running show as a “last bastion of Englishness” and said he wants to “keep it that way.”

He told the Radio Times: “We are a cosmopolitan society in this country, but if you watch Midsomer you wouldn’t think so.“

“I’ve never been picked up on that, but quite honestly I wouldn’t want to change it,” he said.

The show starring John Nettles (Pictured) as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby is set in a quaint rural village with an unusually high body count.

When asked why “Englishness” could not include other ethnicities, True-May said: “Well, it should do and maybe I’m not politically correct. I’m trying to make something that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed. And I don’t want to change it.”

He went onto to say swearing, violence and sex scenes are banned on the show but “incest, blackmail, lesbianism and homosexuality” are allowed.

“We just don’t have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn’t be the English village with them. It just wouldn’t work,” he said

His comments sparked anger from the UK’s leading race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust, who branded his views unfair and exclusionary.

The production company behind the show, All3Media, has suspended True-May, while ITV said it was “shocked and appalled” by his comments.

The latest series on TV next week will star, Neil Dudgeon replacing John Nettles, as central character DCI John Barnaby.