Student Emily Parr was this morning removed from the Big Brother house for using a "racially offensive word" to a fellow housemate, the BBC reports.

The 19-year-old from Bristol got her marching orders at 3.30am BST after saying "Are you pushing it out, you nigger?" to Charley Uchea "while they were dancing in the living room on Wednesday evening". Channel 4 said the offending word was "not broadcast in the programme during a live stream, and was immediately reported to senior production staff".

Angela Jain, head of the Big Brother commissioning team, said the decision to eject Parr "had been taken in the wake of the alleged racist bullying of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year". She explained: "The word nigger is clearly racially offensive and there was no justification for its use. She [Emily] understands why her involvement has come to an end and she very much regrets what she said."

Jain continued: "I think people watching the show tonight will agree that Emily spoke carelessly rather than maliciously - certainly Charley and Nicky, the two housemates most directly involved in the conversation with her, seemed to accept that she did."

Channel 4's response to the latest controversy is in stark contrast to its handling of the Shilpa Shetty incident. The broadcaster dismissed the Bollywood star's treatment at the hands of Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara as "girly rivalry". Ofcom disagreed, and recently ordered the channel to transmit an apology. ®

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