The BBC were forced to issue an on-air apology after a trainee managed to broadcast an unpleasant message about Manchester United to the entire nation.
During a news bulletin at around 9.35am, viewers spotted that the ticker at the bottom of the screen read: "Manchester United are rubbish.” The surprise message caused a stir on social media, forcing the BBC to explain what had happened live on air.
It emerged the offending message was the result of a trainee writing “random things” that were not supposed to be broadcast live.
Another that appeared on screen was: "Weather: rain everywhere."
Speaking a couple of hours later, a BBC News anchor addressed the incident on air, saying: “While we are on the subject of football, a little earlier some of you may have noticed something a little unusual on the ticker at the bottom of the screen, making a comment about Manchester United.
“I hope that Manchester United fans weren’t offended by it, let me just explain what was happening…behind the scenes someone was learning how to use the ticker and to put text on the ticker.
“So they were just writing random things, not in earnest and that comment appeared. So apologies if you saw that and you were offended and a fan of Manchester United. That was a mistake and wasn’t meant to appear on the screen. That was what happened, so we thought we better explain that to you.”
The incident came 48 hours after Manchester United finished a dismal season with defeat to Crystal Palace - their 12th defeat of a miserable campaign.
