BBC stands by BNP members interview

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More than 100 people reportedly complained about the interview with two leading young members of the far-right party on Radio 1's Newsbeat programme.

But the programme's editor defended the piece, broadcast on September 30, saying he had also received messages from listeners who believed it had "exposed the BNP on a range of issues", as well as "a great many texts" that were "broadly supportive" of the extremist party.

During the two-minute item, one of the interviewees, introduced on the programme as "Joey", was asked if he would have a problem with Cole calling himself British.

He responded: "He cannot say he is ethnically British."

He also spoke of Cole "coming to this country", even though the Chelsea player was born in Stepney, east London.

BNP leader Nick Griffin was also interviewed separately on Radio 1, which has a mainly young audience of 11 million a week.

A BBC spokesman said: "Newsbeat interviewed Nick Griffin and two young BNP activists in the light of huge audience response to recent stories about BNP electoral success and what they stand for.

"Both interviews were rigorous and the bulk of the tough questions asked were inspired by, or directly quoted listeners.

"Our audience have diverse views on these subjects and many believe we should examine the BNP's policies more closely. This was a way to shine a light on the views of the BNP, allowing them to make up their own minds."