A GRIEVING family has backed a harrowing television drama about the death of Colchester girl Anneli Alderton.

Five Daughters, a new BBC drama, tells the true stories behind the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006.

Anneli was 24 when she became one of serial killer Steve Wright’s victims.

At the time of her death, she was living with her boyfriend on the Greenstead estate, Colchester.

She was one of five young women whose bodies were found in countryside surrounding Ipswich.

The three-part drama will document the killings, focusing on the lives of the victims, and the people they were.

The programme has been welcomed by Anneli’s mum Maire, who said: “I think this drama is very powerful. It feels truthful and real.

“Sometimes dramas can feel more real than a purely factual account.

“It was so awful when the press referred to the girls as prostitutes. Prostitution is not a career choice, it’s drug addiction that drives people to it – simple as.

“If this drama sparks a debate about drug addiction and girls on the street, that is a very good thing.”

Director Philippa Lowthorpe admits she had initial misgivings about making the drama, but as filming began her opinion changed.

She said: “Tom Alderton, Anneli’s brother, said something very touching to me. He said: ‘You have vindicated my trust in you’.”

The other girls killed by Wright were Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

The drama will be shown on BBC One later this month. Ray Winstone’s daughter, Jamie, plays Anneli, while Juliet Aubrey plays her mum, Marie.