BBC: The programmes that deceived

LONDON - In its worst crisis since the Hutton report three years ago, the BBC has admitted deceiving viewers over phone-in contests, some involving charity specials like Comic Relief and Children in Need.

The scandals came to light only after an internal investigation triggered by the row over the Queen's photo-shoot in which the BBC claimed, falsely, that she had "stormed out."

They followed on from the Blue Peter case in which the Corporation was fined 50,000 pounds by media regulator Ofcom earlier in July after faking the results of a competition.

Nearly 40,000 children phoned Blue Peter last November in the hope of winning a toy but a technical fault meant no winning entrant could be chosen. Instead, a child taking part in a visit to the studio was persuaded to pose as the winner and to say she was phoning from London. The fine was paid by licence-payers.

These are the shows the internal inquiry found had deceived viewers and listeners:

-- Comic Relief. Red Nose Day has turned to red faces day for the BBC. In March 2007 on the charity fund-raising show, viewers were told that by calling in they could win an item belonging to a famous couple. The "winner" turned out to be a member of the production team.

-- Sport Relief. In July 2005 another supposed winner of a phone-in turned out to be a member of the production team.

-- Children in Need. In November 2005 in Scotland a section of the charity phone-in based on the children's show Raven also faked a winner after a technical fault stopped genuine callers getting through. Producers invented a winner's name.

-- TMi. In September 2006 a member of the production team of the popular children's show posed as a winner.