Burger firm slammed over Father’s Day advert featuring Peter Sutcliffe, Jimmy Savile and Fred West

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A burger company has faced a backlash to a Father’s Day advert featuring Peter Sutcliffe, Jimmy Savile and Fred West.

The Otley Burger Company posted the collage on its Instagram page, which also included images of Austrian rapist Josef Fritzl, Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi and former US president Donald Trump.

Richard McCann, whose mother was the first known victim of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, slammed the publicity stunt as “despicable”.

He told the BBC: “It hurt me, it shocked me that somebody would think this was an appropriate piece of marketing.

“To choose something so highly inappropriate and highly insensitive. I am just gobsmacked.”

Mr McCann’s mother, Wilma, was the first of 13 women to be murdered by Sutcliffe across Yorkshire and northwest England between 1975 and 1980.

Sharing a screenshot of the advert on Twitter, Mr McCann claimed the company had said “they were all dads” when “challenged” over the post, which has since been deleted.

Several of those featured in the advert did not have children.

He wrote: “Why on earth would anyone think it was appropriate to use images of Sutcliffe, Saville and West on a Father’s Day advert for his burger company is beyond me.

“When challenged said ‘they were all dads’. Otley Burger Company, shame on you.”

The Independent has approached The Otley Burger Company, based at Otley Tap House, for comment.

It is not the first time the West Yorkshire company has found itself at the centre of criticism over a social media post.

For Mother’s Day earlier this year, the firm posted an advert featuring Karen Matthews, who faked the abduction of her own daughter in a money-making plot.

That picture was reportedly accompanied with the caption: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there. Don’t forget to treat them to a burger tonight.”