The director of Netflix series Baby has distanced the show from the real life scandal of an underage prostitution ring in Italy.

The Italian series is described as “a coming-of-age story that explores the unseen lives of Roman high schoolers”.

Netflix has said it is “loosely inspired by a true story, the baby squillo scandal,” adding it “will follow a group of Parioli teenagers as they defy society in their search for identity and independence against the backdrop of forbidden love, family pressures, and shared secrets.”

Stranger Things gives Netflix biggest streaming day of 2017
(Netflix)

Speaking at a press conference in Rome, director Andrew De Sica said the series was “not a social study”.

He added: “The true story opened a focus in the rich neighbourhood in Rome and a mood a teenager could have.

“It is not a show about sex trafficking and prostitution, it’s about six teenagers. The big issue of the show is 16 and 17-year-olds facing important challenges.

“It is not the real story of baby prostitutes.”

De Sica said he hoped to follow in the footsteps of hit show 13 Reasons Why, saying: “That was something that really inspired us in a way that it has this real close-up to the teenagers.

13 Reasons Why (Netflix)
13 Reasons Why (Netflix)

“It is a claustrophobic way of seeing school and teenagers.

“What our aim is, is to go deeply into something girls and boys are looking for – love – but it is hard so they get lost.”