ALL publicity is good publicity. Or so they say. But, when you're running a successful seaside resort, is the kind of publicity currently emanating from two of Britain's favourite soap operas the kind of exposure you could do without?

Viewers who switched on to ITV's The Bill this week, at the start of a tense eight-parter called Witness, learned that a vicious drug dealer and his girlfriend were intending to go on the run to Bournemouth, selling drugs on the south coast.

Coach tickets with the town's details printed on them were part of the evidence seized by the Sun Hill police and there was much discussion as to why Bournemouth was considered suitable for this kind of enterprise.

Meanwhile, over in The Archers on Radio 4, rapist Owen King has just been arrested by Dorset Police.

At Christmas 2004 he raped Kathy Perks and, after being threatened by her ex-husband, Sid, ran away from Ambridge.

The latest story is that he's been living in Bournemouth under the assumed name Gareth Taylor and has attacked another woman.

Click on to The Archers' website and the fictional King's address is given as Bournemouth.

It's a far cry from the days of Victor Meldrew's bath chair image of the town in One Foot in the Grave.

Or, indeed, of the jolly Only Fools and Horses episodes filmed in the area.

The Bill and The Archers aren't the only soaps to have fictionally pitched up in this area, however.

Two years ago EastEnders decamped to Lulworth to film a complicated couple of episodes about the Wicks' family holiday.

The episode showed off the seaside, the scenery and the village of Worth Matravers.

Despite the bad weather, the area emerged as attractive, pleasant and safe.

Well, once the Wicks' family had left, anyway.

But The Bill and Archers' storylines aren't so helpful.

And while the fans of these shows aren't in the same league of those who follow Coronation Street and EastEnders - stars are often bemused that viewers believe they really are the character they play - Bournemouth Tourism believes they could be damaging to the town's image.

Councillor Beverley Dunlop, Bournemouth council's portfolio holder for economy and tourism, is certainly not impressed.

"We'd prefer it if programme makers didn't use Bournemouth in their storylines when making reference to crime and violence," she says.

"Bournemouth is a very popular and safe tourist destination and in fact has very low levels of crime.

"This kind of coverage does give a false impression of the town's reputation.

"However, I would hope that the majority of viewers and listeners would appreciate that what they are seeing is pure fiction and entertainment."

Do they? Well, if The Archers' messageboards are anything to go by, some listeners take the show very seriously indeed.

The Kathy rape attack and its aftermath - Kathy worries that she's going mad - are the subject of reams of listener comment.

Take this example, from one disgruntled supporter.

"Yes, I find it really distasteful the way people seem to want to discount Kathy's sightings of Taylor.

"I think it's a pretty common, and offensive, tendency, to discount the claims of a rape victim.

"And the dismissal of Kathy's sightings of Taylor seem like a displaced version of that.

"The assumption, it seems to me is, She accused a man of rape/she thinks a man is stalking her... therefore she MUST be crazy/a liar'."

But another listener hits back with: "It is not the character Kathy one should be criticising but the whole sorry story, which spun sic off into the realms of fantasy a long time ago. Awful scripting, poor research.

"The sooner the story limps to its inevitable conclusion the better.

"Then we can get back to the realities of the pig farming or change counting."

Or, possibly, enjoying a nice day out, at a popular, safe and family-orientated seaside resort on the south coast...