BBC's £50k fine over Blue Peter

The BBC has been fined an unprecedented £50,000 over the Blue Peter phone-in scandal in which a young studio guest posed as a fake competition winner.

It is the first time television regulator Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty against the BBC, ruling that it was guilty of "serious breaches" of the broadcasting code.

It found that the BBC was guilty of "deception" and of making a child "complicit" in that deception.

The broadcaster was found to have breached two rules: the first stating that "competitions should be conducted fairly".

In the second instance the BBC failed to adhere to the rule that: "due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of people under 18 who take part or are otherwise involved in programmes".

Nearly 40,000 children called the BBC1 show's premium rate phone line on November 27 last year in a competition to win a toy but when a technical glitch meant no winning entrant could be selected, a girl visiting the studio posed as a winning caller.

She was given the correct answer and put on air. The girl said she was "calling from London" - in fact, she was in the same studio as the presenters.

Another member of the public visiting the studio on the same day observed what had taken place and blew the whistle in March this year.

In its ruling, Ofcom's sanctions committee concluded: "The committee was conscious that the imposition of a financial penalty on the BBC was unprecedented.

"However, in all the circumstances, and weighing all these matters carefully, the committee considered that these were serious breaches of the code by a public service broadcaster resulting, as they did, in the deception of the audience, including child participants who paid to enter the competition.

"The breaches involved a pre-planned decision to fake a winner in the interests of ensuring the smooth running of a programme, and in doing so made a child complicit in events leading to the deception.

"There were also a series of serious and avoidable management and compliance failures before, during and after the breaches occurred."

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