The BBC has been accused of sexism by the London Fire Brigade because one of its children's TV shows called a hippo a fireman instead of a firefighter.

A series of posts from a Twitter account run by fire crews in Greenwich, south London blasted the CBeebies show Hey Duggee.

The social media account slammed the BBC for using 'outdated' language and also described how a retired female firefighter was forced to explain this to her two-year-old grandson.

The anonymous ex-firefighter and her grandchild were watching a series two episode called 'Dressing up Badge' of the popular children's programme.

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During the episode in series two of Hey Duggee called the 'Dressing up Badge' the cartoons in the programme are dressing up as different characters

Roly the hippo annouced that he was going to dress up as a 'fireman' but the show was blasted by LFB for not using the correct phrase which is firefighter

The social media account slammed the BBC for using 'outdated' language and described how they had to explain to their grandchild that this was the wrong phrase

Tweets posted from the account read: 'Isn't it sad when one of our longest serving firefighters, a woman who fought the King's Cross fire 30 years ago, still has to watch TV with her two-year-old grandson and explain why the squirrel in Hey Duggee...is referred to as a 'fireman'.

'This term is VERY outdated and the term 'firefighter' is the preferred, respectful, inclusive, non-sexist, non-gendered term that should be widely used by all media but especially the BBC.'

A continuation of the thread read: 'Women have been firefighting for over 40 years now...Non-sexist, all-inclusive terminology is important if we want to encourage girls, as well as boys, to be future firefighters.'

A retired LFB officer blasted the BBC for calling a cartoon character a fireman instead of a firefighter in popular CBeebies show Hey Duggee

It then quoted the female firefighter and said: 'I was one of the first few women firefighters in the LFB back in the 80s.

Who is Dany Cotton? Dany Cotton, QFSM is a British firefighter. Since 2017, she has served as the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and is the first woman to hold this position. She had previously been the Director of Safety and Assurance at the London Fire Brigade. In 2004 Ms Cotton became the first woman to be awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal. On 14 June 2017, Ms Cotton was in overall command of the when faced with the Grenfell tower fire. She is the National Chair of Networking Women in the Fire Service. Ms Cotton's official title will remain 'Interim Commissioner' pending a restructure of the Brigade later in 2017, at which point she will become full 'Commissioner'. Advertisement

'I did 30 years service and have been retired for nearly three years...It breaks my heart to still have to point this out - especially whilst viewing it with my grandchildren.'

During the episode the cartoons in the programme are dressing up as different characters.

In the scene 'Roly' the hippo annouces that he is going to dress up as a fireman.

The first ever female commissioner Dany Cotton wanted to 'shake off outdated language' when London Fire Brigade started its 'Firefighting Sexism' campaign in October last year.

She said: 'The first woman firefighter joined London Fire Brigade in 1982 and it's ridiculous that 36 years later people are still surprised to see women firefighters or calling them firemen.

'London is a complex and challenging city and it takes a diverse selection of skills, strengths and specialisms to protect it - qualities that both men and women possess.

'I want to shake off outdated language which we know is stopping young girls and women from considering this rewarding and professional career.

'We owe it to tomorrow's firefighters to challenge negative stereotypes today.'

The hit show, which first aired in 2015, is aimed at two-to-five-year-olds and has won BAFTA and Emmy Awards over the course of two series.