BBC bosses have decided to scrub clean the hit film Billy Elliot - by asking that 35 instances of the F-word be removed for a new version.

The move, aimed at allowing the film to be watched by a younger audience, has triggered a debate over censorship and the stereotyping of Northern people.

Residents of Easington Colliery, where the film was made, have agreed with the clean-up, saying pit workers would never have sworn in front of women or children.

Universal, the distributor, has complained that the sanitised Billy Elliot would lose its impact and has threatened to block the release.

They say the gritty language of the Durham pit village, from which Billy escapes to pursue his ballet career, is a key element of the film.

Even Jamie Bell, the 14-year-old star from Teesside, is legally barred from seeing the film, which was given a 15 rating by the British Board of Film Classification, because of its bad language.

BBC head of films David Thompson has asked for an edited version to be prepared for a rerelease in February.

Film coproducer John Finn said: "We consciously chose to leave the swearing in, because we wanted it to be completely true to life.

"You don't notice the bad language in context."

But while Easington colliery residents have welcomed the film as accurate, they are not so happy about the language.

Easington district councillor Dennis Raine said: "The film was very realistic when it came to depicting life on the picket line.

"But people here were unhappy about the depiction of bad language in the house.

"Men were inclined to swear when they were down the pit, but they wouldn't swear in front of women or children."

Fellow councillor Richard Burnip said: "There was an unwritten rule among miners - and that was to leave bad language in the pit.

"They would never swear in front of women or in mixed company."