British national dance champion Lloyd Perry's father Sean has criticised Strictly Come Dancing's producers for ditching his son from the show.

Lloyd, 11, and his partner Rebecca Scott were lined up to appear on the October 31 episode, according to WalesOnline.

However, the BBC One show's bosses decided to cut the young dancers' segment from the show.

"Strictly came to us and said they wanted children on the show, the three best couples in the country from different age groups," said Sean. "Originally they asked Lloyd to take part in a Latin show, so he trained and rehearsed for it. Ten days later we were told there was a change of plan and it was going to be a ballroom show so they had to retrain.

"Lloyd and Rebecca took another day off school to travel up to the Midlands to rehearse. At the end of the second day just as they were putting their shoes on to go home we got a phone call saying 'thanks, but no thanks' and it was being cut from the show.

"Obviously I was furious and wrote the BBC a stinging email when I got home and exchanged a number of phone calls with the show's producers."

He added: "The other couples are older, at 18 and 19, and will take it on the chin but for the youngsters it's devastating. Strictly Come Dancing is a big deal for them. It's something they have grown up watching."

A BBC spokesperson commented: "We were in discussions regarding the possibility of showcasing three age groups of dance champions on Strictly Come Dancing. However, no final confirmation was ever given, which was made clear from the outset, and contracts were not discussed.

"Once it became clear that we would not be able to accommodate the children in the show, due to content changes being made with the specific episode, we looked at three alternative dates but unfortunately not all of the dancers were available for these dates."