The BBC has axed the sitcom The Walshes.

Created by comedy group Diet Of Worms in collaboration with Graham Linehan, The Walshes first debuted on BBC Four in March 2014, and was repeated in November on BBC Two.

The three episode series - which starred Niall Gaffney, Philippa Dunne, Amy Stephenson and Rory Connolly - focused on a dysfunctional tight-knit family living in West Dublin.

The series gained good reviews - with The Radio Times pointing out it had "some wonderful moments of silliness" and The Guardian commenting that the scripts had "lovely touches" - but it failed to find a large audience. Graham Linehan, writing on Twitter last night, blamed the BBC for not publicising the series.

He wrote: "The Walshes there, which BBC Two dropped because it didn't find an audience after three episodes and zero publicity."

Following a series of tweets from dismayed fans, Linehan took to Twitter again this evening to make further comments.

He posted to his Twitter followers: "I really struggle to grasp the point of putting out a three-episode series, giving it no publicity, and then pulling it. Befuddling."

Adding: "I should say that [BBC commissioner] Shane Allen, who brought The Walshes over to BBC2, always fought hard for it. The order to nix it came from higher up."

Speaking to Chortle, a BBC spokesperson confirmed they had cancelled the show, saying: "The BBC is very proud to have backed The Walshes - a mostly unknown cast doing their first TV gig - and it played out on BBC Four and had a BBC Two repeat. It's a very competitive environment and we can't bring all our shows back but we love working with Graham on Count Arthur Strong, now in its second series, and we're delighted with the praise and support for that."

However, it may not be the end of the road for the characters in The Walshes. Asked by a Twitter user "Why not consider making it a web series?", Linehan responded: "Might come to that. Definitely don't want to let those characters go."

Below is the trailer that was used to promote the series: