BBC asks Carol Thatcher to apologise for likening tennis star to a golliwog

THE BBC is seeking a formal apology from Carol Thatcher after she referred to a tennis player as "a golliwog".

The daughter of Margaret Thatcher is a roving reporter on The One Show and made the comment after Thursday night's edition while in the green room with its presenter, Adrian Chiles, and other members of the production team.

It came during a conversation about the Australian Open tennis tournament and was understood to have been a reference to one of the players in the men's competition.

A BBC source said Chiles was "very shocked" and others in the room told Thatcher they found her language offensive.

Friends of the journalist and author said the remarks were made jokingly during a private conversation that took place after several drinks in the green room.

A BBC spokesman said: "The BBC considers any language of a racist nature wholly unacceptable. We have raised the issue with the individual concerned and are discussing it as a matter of urgency."

A spokesman for Thatcher, 55, who has been a regular contributor to The One Show for three years, said that the comment had been "an off-the-cuff remark made in jest".

He added: "Carol never intended any racist comment. She made a light aside about this tennis player and his similarity to the golliwog on the jam pot when she was growing up.

"There's no way, obviously, that she would condone any racist comment - we would refute that entirely. It would not be in her nature to do anything like that."