Fireman Sam episode pulled after offensive Quran scene

The makers of popular British children's cartoon series Fireman Sam have come under fire after an episode showed a character stepping on a page of the Quran.

In the episode - which was last shown on June 28 - a character is seen twice stepping on a pile of papers that are left on the floor, causing him to slip amid a swirl of flying sheets - one of which is a page from the Muslim holy book.

The page in question was identified by social media users as being from the Quran's 67th chapter entitled Surah Mulk.

When the offensive scene was highlighted by a viewer, a social media storm broke out about the animation, which has been in production since 1987.

HIT entertainment, which is also behind Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder, issued an apology in response to the criticism and pulled the offensive episode from circulation.

"It has been brought to our attention that in an episode of Fireman Sam an image of the Quran is briefly depicted.   The page was intended to show illegible text and we deeply regret this error," HIT said in a statement.

"We will no longer be working with the animation studio responsible for this mistake. In addition, we are  taking immediate action to remove this episode from circulation and we are reviewing our content production procedures to ensure this never happens again."

While the show's producers have denied any malicious intent behind the animation, this is not the first time that Fireman Sam's makers have drawn accusations of Islamophobia.

David Jones, one of the show's creators, was held at London's Gatwick airport in 2012 after he made a comment about a veiled Muslim woman.

Noticing that the woman had passed through the airport's security with her religious attire, the ex-fireman asked a security official "If I was wearing this scarf over my face, I wonder what would happen?"

Jones was then held by airport security, however was adamant that he would not apologise, protesting that his comments had nothing to do with the woman's religion.