BBC says sorry over no Shrewsbury toilets claim

BBC director-general Mark Thompson was today forced to say sorry to council chiefs – after a documentary wrongly claimed all public toilets in Shrewsbury had shut down.

Mr Thompson, who is ultimately responsible for all of the BBC's output, apologised over the gaffe and admitted the independent production company behind the programme had 'misinterpreted' their sources prior to broadcast.

The mistake occurred in the Postcode Lottery five-part series, hosted by Dominic Littlewood, which was aired at primetime on BBC One in March.

On the 45-minute show viewers were told since a change in policy by Shropshire Council in April 2011, public toilet provision in Shrewsbury had ceased to exist.

The information, it has now been revealed, was taken from accounts submitted by the local authority which failed to recognise the ownership of the toilets had transferred to Shrewsbury Town Council.

The town was criticised as a result of the incorrect information going out on air.

Council chiefs were quick to point out the town still had up to a dozen public toilets in use including in Abbey Foregate, Hills Lane, The Quarry Park and shopping centres, sparking an investigation at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.

Mr Thompson, in a letter seen by the Star, said: "I am very sorry that this mistake occurred, and would like to add my sincere apologies."

The letter, with a response from the production company included, went on: "They are very sorry for an extremely regrettable error in saying that all the public toilets in Shrewsbury have been closed.

"They assure us that it was a genuine mistake based on a misinterpretation of slightly ambiguous source material."

Town council leader Peter Nutting said he was pleased with the apology. "Shrewsbury, while we're not completely satisfied with the provision in the town, provides good facilities for public toilets ," he said.