Traditional fairytales are being ditched by parents because they are too scary for their young children, a study found.

Research revealed one in five parents has scrapped old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favour of more modern books.

One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the gruesome details of Little Red Riding Hood.

And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids as the themes of the story are kidnapping and execution.

Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condones stealing.

The survey of 2,000 adults was commissioned to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six gritty episodes based on traditional fairytales.

The poll found a quarter of parents polled wouldn't consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their offspring.

And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it portrays a young woman doing housework all day.

Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to soothe children and send them off to sleep soundly.

"But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children.

"As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could take things too literally.

"Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story."

The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares.

However half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr Men books.

TOP TEN FAIRYTALES NO LONGER READ TO CHILDREN

1. Hansel and Gretel - Details two kids abandoned in the forest and likely to scare young children

2. Jack and the Beanstalk - Deemed too 'unrealistic'.

3. Gingerbread Man - Would be uncomfortable explaining gingerbread man gets eaten by a fox

4. Little Red Riding Hood - Deemed unsuitable by parents who have to explain a young girl's grandmother has been eaten by a wolf.

5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - the term dwarves was found to be inappropriate

6. Cinderella - Story about a young girl doing all the housework was outdated.

7. Rapunzel - Parents were worried about the focus on a young girl being kidnapped.

8. Rumplestiltskin - Wouldn't be happy reading about executions and kidnapping

9. Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Sends the wrong messages about stealing

10. Queen Bee - Inappropriate as the story has a character called Simpleton.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)