LONDON - THE head of the BBC admitted Tuesday the corporation made a 'very serious editorial lapse' in allowing a lewd phone prank by two star presenters to be broadcast.

Director-General Mark Thompson was being questioned by lawmakers after a furore over telephone messages left by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand for veteran actor Andrew Sachs which were subsequently aired on Brand's radio show.

The messages included a claim by Mr Ross that Mr Brand had sex with Sachs's granddaughter and suggested the 78-year-old - who played Spanish waiter Manuel in 1970s television series 'Fawlty Towers' - might hang himself as a result.

'I am very aware that this was a very serious editorial lapse,' Mr Thompson told the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee hearing. 'There were errors in judgment'.

He added that the lapse was 'not typical of the BBC and it is not how our compliance works.' 'You cannot expect that sometimes we will not get it wrong. This is very uncharacteristic,' Mr Thompson said.

Mr Ross, the BBC's highest earner who hosts a popular Friday night television chat show and Saturday morning radio show, was suspended for 12 weeks in the wake of the row last month.

Mr Brand, who is trying to build a film career in the US with parts in films including 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', resigned from his radio show on Radio Two after being suspended.

The controller of Radio Two, Lesley Douglas, also resigned over the affair, which came amid a rumbling political debate over whether the BBC's model of charging an annual 139.50 pound (S$351) licence fee for public service television is relevant in the digital age. -- AFP