The BBC faced a deluge of complaints from listeners over its bizarre online coverage of a fictional flood disaster in The Archers . The Radio 4 drama 's village of Ambridge , based in the fictional West Midlands county of Borsetshire , was flooded in the latest sensational storyline . Accompanying the show were live minute-by-minute updates of the floods on the BBC website , including weather forecasts and 'breaking news ' headlines - but listeners said the graphics were 'insulting ' . The BBC faced a deluge of complaints from listeners over its bizarre online coverage of a fictional flood disaster in The Archers , which included maps and graphics on the corporation 's website . A fake BBC weather forecast showed rain falling on the fictional village of Ambridge , near Birmingham . This week 's episodes of The Archers have followed events taking place over one day of severe rainfall in Ambridge , with the drama building throughout the day as the River Am burst its banks . The BBC put out fake tweets and warnings from the Environment Agency , as farmland around the fictional village became inundated with water - mirroring the flooding of the Somerset Levels this time last year . The rolling coverage included maps and graphics to help listeners understand what was happening , but some listeners said visual aids 'insulted their intelligence ' . Some listeners added that they could not understand what was going on because of the loud background noise of rainfall and heavy winds . Echoing the floods in Somerset last year , the BBC live coverage reported farmers rapidly trying to protect their land and even linked to a real-life account of floods in Worcester . Under a 'breaking news ' headline , the online update said a character on the programme was given CPR . A realistic weather forecast also appeared on the minute-by-minute internet coverage , but listeners said it insulted their intelligence . The BBC put out fake tweets and warnings from the Environment Agency , as farmland around Ambridge became inundated with water . In other developments on the Radio 4 drama , 16-year-old character Phoebe Aldridge went missing but was later found , and Rob Titchener was injured as he saved three people from flooded stables . The rolling updates on the BBC website included a video forecast by Midlands Today weather presenter Rebecca Wood , who warned people to be wary of floodwater and severe winds . Many listeners were unimpressed by the programme 's online coverage , with some taking to forums to brand it 'insulting ' and confusing . One fan wrote : 'It would 'help ' me to feel I was regarded as an adult who knows this is all fantasy , that the residents of Ambridge do not exist , that they are not actually glugging about in the Am 's excess water , rather than be told at the end of the episode that tweets and blogs about the flood from Ambridge residents can be read/heard . ' Can not stand this cross over between fiction and reality , the fiction should be strong enough to stand in its own right and not need these add-on insults to intelligence . ' The programme 's storyline mirrored the reality of the flooding of the Somerset Levels ( pictured ) last year . Echoing the floods in Somerset last year , the BBC live coverage reported farmers rapidly trying to protect their land and even linked to a real-life account of floods in Worcester . Another wrote : ' A friend of mine , a loyal and forgiving listener , told me that when she saw on the Archers Home Page a 'weather forecast ' for Ambridge that looks exactly like the real ones that appear on the BBC news pages , she felt really cross , felt that her intelligence was being insulted . 'She loves the fictional programme but knows its not real life and is angry that the programme makers think she is stupid enough to want this sort of nonsense . ' Other complaints focused on the storyline being too confusing and background noise being too loud . 'You ca n't do this on the radio . Just shouting into the mic does not make it a dramatic and gripping storyline . No idea where anyone was half the time , whether they were driving , wading or climbing up the wall , ' one listener wrote . A spokesman for The Archers said : 'The flood storyline has been building for some time . 'The Archers has a long tradition of reflecting the agricultural world and the current storyline , which fans will know has been building for over a year , mirrors what farmers across the country experienced in recent floods . 'When developing the script , the writers spoke to real-life farmers and it is their experiences that inspired this week ’ s events in Ambridge . 'This is the first time we have done live blogging and it has been amazing to see audiences engage with us and experience this week ’ s events as if they too were residents of Ambridge . '
Listeners complained over BBC 's online coverage of floods in The Archers . BBC website showed fake flood warnings for fictional Midlands towns . Fans said online maps and graphics of floods ' insulted their neighbours ' Others said they know show is fantasy and do not believe ' this nonsense ' Floods in Ambridge village echoed those on the Somerset Levels last year . Farmers fought to protect their land as authorities reacted slowly to flooding .