Emma Thompson upsets UK islanders

London: Oscar winner Emma Thompson has angered residents on Britain`s Isle of Wight after she jokingly implied them as "stone homosexuals".

The British actress appeared on America`s The Late Late Show and Scottish host Craig Ferguson told her he was holidaying on Catalina, an island off the coast of California, a news website reported. After Ferguson compared the vacation spot to the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England, Thompson quipped, "Oh, so they stone homosexuals there? Nice." She carried on the joke, adding, "I think they are still allowed to flog them, which some of them enjoy. I think they are allowed to shoot Irish or Scottish people if they arrive on the island - it is still in the rules, they are allowed to torture people. It`s lovely, you should go." But the offhand comments have left islanders infuriated. Local council leader David Pugh said, "It`s a great shame that someone with her profile should make such ridiculous claims. Presumably Emma Thompson made these comments to get some laughs on the chat show." "The island is a very diverse and welcoming place, as testified by the many millions of visitors that holiday here each year. "Her claims are much ado about nothing and as outlandish as some of the fiction in the Harry Potter films she has been working on. If there was a Golden Globe award for Best Fictional Claims on a Chat Show, Emma Thompson would win it hands down," he added. PTI