Sarah Kennedy talks herself into another radio race controversy

Early morning musings on her Radio 2 show, a throw-away comment or two and then she finds herself in the middle of another race row.

This time the 57-year-old presenter talked her way into trouble by telling listeners that she cannot see black people in the dark.

She said she had nearly run over a pedestrian because she could not spot him and had only seen the "invisible" man when he "opened his mouth".

Kennedy returned to the subject the following day and her comments led to the BBC apologising to listeners yesterday for causing offence.

Radio 2 bosses are believed to have given her a ticking off.

The gaffe, the latest in a series of bizarre comments made by Kennedy on her show, came in a discussion about winter road conditions and children wearing visible clothes as they walk to and from school in the dark.

"That's not just children," she said. "You know what happened to me yesterday. It was this black guy. It's lucky he opened his mouth to yawn or do something and I saw him. He was wearing a black hat, black clothes and he was just invisible."

Protests duly followed. But it is not the first time Kennedy has become embroiled in a race row.

In 2000, the BBC was forced to apologise when, during a discussion about genetics, she suggested that black people made good runners because they were used to being chased by lions.

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At the time she added she could not think of any black swimmers although she said "you black people are all so marvellous at running".

The latest remarks, made on air last week, provoked anger among some of her early morning show's fans, who call themselves Dawn Patrollers.

One listener complained: "I'm a great fan of Radio 2's early morning programme, and teach radio as part of my job role. I'd be disgusted to play back those comments to students."

Another said: "This is just one in a long line of irresponsible remarks from Sarah Kennedy, but the BBC don't have a problem with her."

One said: "OK in 1957 but not PC in 2007."

Other fans leapt to the presenter's defence, claiming she was not being racist, but was trying to make a valid road safety point.

One claimed: "Leaving aside the fact she said "until he opened his mouth", she was making a point that too many pedestrians (and I include myself in that) wear dark clothing at night."

Another said skin tone was a relevant point in the issue of seeing pedestrians in the dark. The Kennedy supporter said: "This is nothing to do with prejudice - it is a fact based on the science of light reflecting off objects."

There were also some calls for Aled Jones, who recently stood in for her, to become the permanent host of the show.

Kennedy has been criticised for baffling early morning performances in recent months, which have seen her mispronounce words and let sentences tail off.

There have even been listeners voicing fears for her health over recent incidents.

She referred to Diana, Princess of Wales as wearing a "pink polka blot" dress and said the victim in the Phil Spector murder trial had suffered from a "gunshot to the month".

Kennedy also offered to send panties to soldiers in Afghanistan and struggled to read a newspaper review.

Her behaviour was blamed by the BBC on a sore throat which caused breathing difficulties.

Last year, the BBC was forced to apologise after Kennedy called the couple buying her home "thieves".

She gave listeners a lengthy rant about the people buying her house allegedly refusing to pay her £250 to cover the cost of filling up the oil tank for winter, leading to complaints she was abusing her position.

In 1999, she prompted complaints when she called a clergyman an "old prune", said fellow DJ Ken Bruce was an "old fool" and said a newsreader had soiled their underwear.

That same year the presenter, who joined Radio 2 in 1976, took a week off work suffering from exhaustion after inappropriate comments when standing in for Terry Wogan.

Yesterday, the BBC said: "We apologise for any offence given and have spoken to Sarah Kennedy."

A spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "The BBC has responded to listeners complaints and dealt with the situation."