The BBC has rapped the knuckles of six staff working on consumer prog Watchdog for disseminating "obscene" emails, some of which "referred to [the show's] presenter Julia Bradbury", UK tabloid the Sun reports. Other topics of conversation included "secretaries, work experience girls and production staff".

The "backroom" boys also knocked up a list of female staff with whom they would like to share an intimate moment. A Watchdog insider told the Sun: "The girl who blew the whistle was shocked by some of the content. There were lists saying who they would like to sleep with in the office. The remarks about the work experience girls were the most disgusting.”

Six Beeb employees received verbal warnings as a result of the outrage, and another half dozen were exonerated because they had simply received the offending emails. ®

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