Rebecca Adlington, Britain’s double Olympic gold medal winning swimmer, has written to the BBC Trust to complain that its decision to rebuke Frankie Boyle after he “humiliated” her on one of its flagship comedy programmes, was not a strong enough punishment.

The swimmer is frustrated that the watchdog’s sanction amounted to little more than a “slap on the wrist” and wants the BBC to take stronger action against the comedian.

Boyle was recently censured by the trust, which ruled that a joke he made at the swimmer’s expense on the BBC2 show Mock the Week was unfair and offensive.

The Glaswegian comic has refused to apologise and last week made further derogatory remarks about Adlington’s appearance.

Rob Woodhouse, the swimmer’s agent, said she was deeply hurt by the jibes and frustrated that Boyle’s punishment seems to have had little impact on him.

“Frankie Boyle has made it very clear that he doesn’t care what the BBC Trust say or do,” said Woodhouse.

“Essentially, he was given a slap on the wrist and there are no real implications for him. For a comedian or any sort of performer, the media is their promotional vehicle.

“If the BBC chose to remove the oxygen of publicity and stopped him from appearing in their shows, then maybe that could act as a deterrent.”

Boyle’s remarks were included in a programme broadcast soon after Adlington won two gold medals in Beijing last year. “The thing that nobody really said about Rebecca Adlington is that she looks really weird,” he said. “She looks like someone who’s looking at themselves in the back of a spoon.”

He compared her appearance unfavourably with that of her boyfriend, adding: “From that I have deduced that Rebecca Adlington is very dirty.”

Woodhouse said the swimmer had never heard of the show and only became aware of Boyle’s comments when they were reported in the media.

“Rebecca shook her head in disgust when she heard about this and is trying to put it behind her,” he said. “Her family and friends are very upset about what was said. Our biggest concern is not with the BBC but with the man who made these comments in the first place. To speak about any young woman in the way Frankie Boyle did is nothing short of disgraceful.”

“Boyle’s comments are out there and he has made it clear that he doesn’t think he has done anything wrong. I really don’t think an apology would make any difference to Rebecca.”

The swimmer has written to the BBC Trust expressing her concern over the incident. Earlier this week an unrepentant Boyle, who has now quit Mock the Week, said the public could not care less about the trust’s rulings and insulted Adlington again, suggesting she looked like a beagle. He said of the trust: “Who are these people? What authority do they have to judge comedy?”

Woodhouse said: “From our perspective the follow-up comments that he made this week are probably worse than his original remarks. He has clearly realised that this episode is a chance to keep his face in the papers and get his name out there.”

He added that it was particularly reprehensible that the 37-year-old felt a teenager’s appearance was a suitable subject for comedy.

“Rebecca was 19 at the time,” he said. “What kind of message are you sending out to young kids by making comments like this? Body image is already a major issue, particularly for teenage girls.

“This whole episode could encourage someone who wants to make a name for themselves to humiliate someone on air, get into hot water with the BBC and then milk the inevitable furore for all it is worth. There has got to be a way of cutting out the ability of people to make these kinds of comments.”

Boyle declined to comment.

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