Theresa May has said the death of Steve Dymond after he appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show is "deeply disturbing".

The Prime Minister said that media companies had a responsibility to for the mental health and well being of participants in their programmes.

It comes after pals said that Mr Dymond, 63, may have killed himself as a result of failing a lie detector on the show, and ITV suspended all production and pulled the programme from the air.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that Mrs May was "deeply concerned" about the potential link between the death and Mr Dymond's TV appearance.

He added: "Broadcasters and production companies have a responsibility for the mental health and well being of participants and viewers of their programmes.

"We are clear they must have appropriate levels of support in place.”

It came as ITV was urged to end broadcasts of the Jeremy Kyle Show for good.

Mr Dymond took a lie-detector test to convince fiancee Jane Callaghan he had not been unfaithful but they split after he failed.

ITV said staff at the broadcaster and the show's production team were "shocked and saddened" at the death and the episode will be reviewed.

However, Tory MP Charles Walker, a vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention said: "On reflection, ITV would be best advised just to stop it. It's a very, very unattractive TV show and I'm surprised it's gone on so long."

Damian Collins, chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said TV companies "have a duty to care to the people who take part in their programmes", while Tory MP Simon Hart, who also sits on the committee, described the Jeremy Kyle Show as "car-crash TV which revels in people's terrible misfortune and sometimes their vulnerabilities".

Professor Sir Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the show should be dropped and Jeremy Kyle's "help" stretches the meaning of the word to the limit.

He said powerful emotions of shame and guilt can lead to a breakdown and these psychological forces are amplified by the show's large audience.

There have been calls for a review into the impact of reality TV on the mental health of vulnerable people and concerns have been raised over the damage caused by public "shaming".

Professor Sir Simon said: "I think it should be dropped, actually. It's the theatre of cruelty.

"And yes, it might entertain a million people a day, but then again so did Christians versus lions

A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that we were called at 1.24pm on Thursday 9 May following the discovery of a body of a man in his 60s at an address in Grafton St, Portsmouth.

"The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner."

A neighbour of Ms Callaghan's home in Gosport, Hampshire, who did not wish to be named, said: "He lived here the last two or three months, they seemed happy, they were always friendly."

The neighbour added that Mr Dymond had recently bought a second hand car and had been pleased with it.

Another neighbour said: "A while ago in the garden, I heard her say 'you have never kissed me like that' so they obviously had problems.

"They were pleasant people, they never really rowed. It's all been a bit of a shock."

Monday morning's episode of the Jeremy Kyle Show did not air and ITV has now wiped all episodes of the programme from its on-demand service the ITV Hub, and episodes will not air on ITV2.

A celebrity edition of the show starring former X Factor contestant Christopher Maloney and ex-EastEnders actress Danniella Westbrook was due to air on Tuesday, but will be rescheduled, according to both stars.

The broadcaster said the episode featuring the participant who died will be submitted for a review due to the "seriousness of this event".

Filming and broadcasting of the programme was suspended while the review is being conducted.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "This is clearly a very distressing case. Although we can only assess content that has been broadcast, we are discussing this programme with ITV as a priority to understand what took place."

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