The Fort Amherst Heritage Trust, which looks after the historic Amherst Fort in Chatham, Kent has outraged some of its management, trustees and volunteers by raising money, alleged to be £1,200, from allowing Playboy TV to make a pornographic film in the network of tunnels underneath the heritage site.

Some at the charity are claiming that donors have been put off by the booking, said to have been agreed by a member of the management team who has since left.

Fort Amherst was built in 1756 to help defend Britain’s shores from Napoleon’s armies and is a popular choice with families, not least for the scary ghost tours organised in the reputedly haunted tunnels, which have also been used for weddings. They were also used for parts of the 1986 historical drama, The Mission, set in 18th-century South America and featuring the likes of Robert de Niro, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson, as well as Oscar-winning photography by Chris Menges and a much-praised musical score by Ennio Morricone, for many film buffs, two names that signal quality.

Playboy’s effort doesn’t appear to have quite the same cachet, being a pornographic spoof of the 1980’s TV series Knight Rider, called “Tight Rider”, though it will doubtless appeal to fans of the genre……….