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The BBC hired a porn star to play a part in the Crimewatch reconstruction of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

Mark Sloan, who has starred in a string of X-rated movies, was cast as Matthew Oldfield, one of the “Tapas Seven” dining with Gerry and Kate McCann on the night their three-year-old daughter vanished.

The Crimewatch show, which attracted its biggest-ever audience of 6.7 million people in the UK and millions more across Europe, revealed new evidence uncovered by a fresh Scotland Yard investigation into the abduction of Madeleine from a holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, six years ago.

(Image: BBC)

Sloan, who has taken part in previous Crimewatch reconstructions, boasts on his website to starring in sleazy titles, including Tight Rider, Sherlock Bones and From Dusk Till Porn. He has appeared on adult channels Playboy TV and Television X.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: “We are surprised that the BBC employed the services of someone who has openly worked in the sex industry for something as sensitive as this reconstruction.

“Anybody working with families who have been affected by crime types as serious as this should ensure that nothing they do adds to the families’ distress.”

Vivienne Pattison, of family values group Mediawatch, said: “This was not the most appropriate of castings.”

On his website, Sloan claims to be a former sniper and photographer in the British Army who carried out two tours of Northern Ireland during The Troubles in the 1980s.

(Image: BBC)

He also says that working in the porn industry helped to improve his acting.

His biography on a UK-based talent website reads: “Well what can I say, I live life to the full.”

Labour MP John Mann demanded that the BBC answer questions about their choice of actor.

He said: “They’ve clearly made a mistake on this. This is not the standard we expect from the BBC.”

A spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann said: “This is a matter for the BBC and their production values. We do not wish to comment on it.”

The BBC yesterday declined to comment.