FEARS of sex and scandal in The Sooty Show were aired at the world premiere of a documentary "ungloving" the famous puppet.

Hundreds turned out for the red carpet event in Guiseley at the weekend - with one couple travelling from Australia to attend the showing in Sooty's home town.

They heard how the suggestion of introducing a girlfriend for the children's favourite was condemned in the swinging sixties amid concerns it would bring sex into the show.

The controversy over Soo grew so intense that the BBC Director General Hugh Carleton Greene had to intervene, stepping into the fray to allow the panda to join the show - on the condition the two puppets would never touch.

Before his intervention the rift within the BBC was picked up by the tabloid press and the row escalated out of all proportion. The show's creator Harry Corbett was warned the corporation was prepared to "urgently review the future of the Sooty series in BBC Television".

Now the row has hit the national headlines again - including page three of the Sun - after it was rediscovered in the documentary Sooty Ungloved.

The documentary's director Jeff Smart - a lifelong fan of the puppet, who appeared on the show when he was five - said: "This documentary is the fulfilment of a long held ambition to tell the true story about Sooty and his rise to fame, and to be able to present the World Premiere in Guiseley is a dream come true."

He stressed he was overwhelmed by the positive feedback he had received from people attending the event, including Harry Corbett's sons and Sooty's current handler Richard Cadell.

"Also I am completely bowled over at the recent press coverage that hit the papers in the days leading up the event," he added.

Jeff said:"The media interest was mind boggling, and proof that Sooty is as popular now as he has ever been. I am hopeful that as a result of all this interest in Sooty Ungloved it may get to be seen by a wider audience on TV in the near future."

Sooty was created in 1948 by Guiseley man Harry Corbett, who died in 1989. Appearing at the event were the stars of the Sooty show from over the years, including Harry's two sons David Corbett and his younger brother Peter, better known to TV audiences as Matthew Corbett, who presented Sooty when his dad retired in 1975.

Also at the event were the current voice of Soo Brenda Longman, Sweep's handler Brian Sandford , Ed Pugh Granada producer of Sooty during the 90's, and Richard Cadell, Sooty’s current handler.