Wearside Women in Need, a domestic violence charity located in the northeast of England, is organising a mass burning of the erotic international hit novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

National media reports the charity’s director Clare Phillipson calling the Fifty Shades trilogy ‘vile’, and that the organisation is encouraging women to submit copies of the books to its offices in time for a bonfire on 5 November – Guy Fawkes Night.

BBC News quotes Phillipson as saying: “I do not think I can put into words how vile I think this book is and how dangerous I think the idea is that you get a sophisticated but naïve young woman and a much richer, abusive older man who beats her up and does some dreadful things to her sexually.”

Phillipson continues that she objects to the fact that whilst local authorities are making cuts to outreach and refuge services for women, libraries are ordering in extra copies of the trilogy by British author E.L. James to meet demand.

This represents, she is quoted as saying, a misuse of public money "on a book that says ‘violence is sexy’", when funds could be better spent supporting the victims of abuse.

No-one from Wearside Women in Need was available for further comment.

The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy centres around Anastasia, a young college student who has an affair with older billionaire Christian Grey that delves into sado-masochistic sexual practices.

The UK publisher of the novel, Random House, is quoted as saying the sex scenes in the multi-million bestseller are “entirely consensual.”