Sky comedy series Brassic starring Michelle Keegan has apologised after a mother slammed the TV crew for digging a fake plot just six feet from her son’s grave.
The Sky One comedy is currently filming its third season in Lancashire and was given permission by Rossendale Council to shoot at Whitworth Cemetery last week.
Mother-of-three Tracy Goldie-Auxilly has branded the crew a ‘disgrace’ after they dug near the plot where her son Gareth, 39, had been laid to rest two weeks before.
Apology: Sky One comedy series Brassic starring Michelle Keegan, 33, (pictured) has apologised after a mother slammed the TV crew for digging a fake plot just six feet from her son’s grave
Tracy revealed how her autistic daughter Chloe, 31, visited her brother’s grave on Thursday 14 October.
However she was left confused and devastated when she saw the cast and crew gathered about a freshly dug hole just feet from Gareth’s final resting place.
Gareth’s plot was still decorated with memorial wreaths and flowers when the crew were filming including two letter wreaths, one saying ‘Dad’ the other ‘Gaz’.
Grieving: Mother-of-three Tracy Goldie-Auxilly has branded the crew a ‘disgrace’ after they dug near the plot where her son Gareth, 39, had been laid to rest two weeks before Whitworth Cemetery in Lancashire
Brassic is a comedy set in the fictional East Lancashire town of Hawley, featuring Michelle Keegan, 33, who stars as Erin Croft and Joe Gilgun, 36, who plays Vinnie O’Neil.
Tracy said the crew were heard swearing and being crass while Chloe tried to have time alone with her brother who died suddenly on September 11.
‘It’s a disgrace, you’re filming graveyards, a place where you lay people to rest,’ said Tracy.
‘At the end of the day it’s not a playground, the crew could have used a farmer’s field with some props, Brassic isn’t a serious topic they could have filmed somewhere else.
Site: The Sky comedy is currently filming its third season in Lancashire and was given permission by Rossendale Council to shoot at Whitworth Cemetery last week
‘I want the council to go away delve into their conscience, what they have done has devastated my family.
‘When the film crew got there it was obvious there was a freshly buried body.’
Speaking about her daughter Chloe, Tracy continued: ‘She was so confused.
‘Initially she thought she had wandered into a funeral. She was just devastated, they were still filming when she was at his grave.
Cast: Brassic is a comedy set in the fictional East Lancashire town of Hawley, featuring Michelle Keegan, 33, who stars as Erin Croft and This Is England star Joe Gilgun, 36, (pictured) who plays Vinnie O’Neil
‘They were swearing and shouting, Chloe couldn’t get her head around it. Some of the language they were using really wasn’t nice.
‘When she found out the grave they had dug wasn’t real it upset her even more. This has taken my family so far back.’
The father-of-two, who has left behind an eight-year-old daughter and son, 12, experienced a kind of seizure and died almost instantly while he was stood in his mother’s kitchen.
Tracy said that the family are still awaiting a coroner’s report to find out the true cause of his death.
She said: ‘We are completely shell shocked by it, everything happened so quickly. He so missed it’s untrue.’
Due to coronavirus restrictions only 15 people were able to attend Gareth’s funeral on September 29 and he was buried at the cemetery in Whitworth.
Tracy said that the family chose the idyllic graveyard specifically due to its beauty.
On set: The film crew have been granted permission to film at several sites across East Lancashire. Pictured: Michelle filming Brassic in October 2018
Rossendale Council gave permission for the film crew to attend the graveyard on October 14 and October 15 in order to shoot scenes for Brassic.
A council spokesperson told LancsLive: ‘The council would like to apologise for the upset this incident this has caused the family at this very difficult time.
‘The production company were granted permission to do the filming several weeks ago.
Set: The crew filmed seasons one and two largely in the town of Bacup, Lancashire, and have continued to use locations across the county with stars spotted regularly
‘The council do take every precaution to ensure a considerable distance between filming and any existing graves, and we did not intend to cause any upset.’
Sky have also offered their apologies to the family.
A spokesperson for the network told LancsLive: ‘We’re very sorry for any distress we caused when filming scenes on location at Rossendale.
‘While our production team had received permission to film scenes on location, we understand the impact this had on the family member and we would like to offer them our deepest sympathy and condolences.
‘While filming was taking place the production was conscious someone was visiting and out of respect, a crew member reached out in person, to offer apologies for any disruption caused.
Character: Michelle stars as Erin Croft in the Sky Comedy series which contains ‘adult language’
‘The series is post-watershed and plays out after 10pm. As a result, it contains adult language and we offer apologies for any sensitivities cause by this being overheard during filming.’
Sky also wanted to reiterate that they were given permission to film at the location in advance from council.
They said production signage was placed at entrances to the cemetery to make visitors aware filming was taking place, although Tracy said she was not aware of seeing any signs when she visited the graveyard herself.
Icon: Michelle plays Erin in the hit Sky Comedy series (pictured) and the film crew have been granted permission to film at several sites across East Lancashire
The crew filmed seasons one and two largely in the town of Bacup, Lancashire, and have continued to use locations across the county with stars spotted regularly.
The series is based on Gilgun’s home town of Chorley which is why filming has taken place in Bacup and much of Rossendale.
Members of the crew tested positive for coronavirus in late September forcing production to halt temporarily.
The film crew have been granted permission to film at several sites across East Lancashire.
MailOnline has contacted representatives of Michelle Keegan for comment.
Filming: The series is based on Gilgun’s home town of Chorley which is why filming has taken place in Bacup and much of Rossendale