VALLEYS radio station BRfm have been found to be in breach of Ofcom regulations after a presenter made derogatory comments about gay and bisexual people on-air.

A complaint was lodged against the Brynmawr-based station following comments made by Dai Haywood about gay and bisexual paper that were deemed offensive.

The comments were made during the ‘Dai Haywood Rock & Roll’ weekly programme on October 25, 2016.

BRfm expressed its “deepest apologies” to its listeners and that Mr Haywood, a volunteer, had apologised “sincerely” for his remarks.

The station had initially suspended the presenter upon becoming aware of the comments before parting ways with him completely.

The comments were found to have warranted investigation under Rule 2.3 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code where presenters “must ensure material that may cause offence is justified by the context”.

The topic of sexual orientation was not referred to at any point during the live programme aside from the presenter’s comments, which were not “challenged or contextualised” by others.

The broadcasting regulator’s comments read: “We took into account that sexual orientation is a protected characteristic under UK equality legislation.

“We considered that the presenter’s statements about homosexual and bisexual people were likely to have been interpreted by listeners as offensive because they were derogatory and stereotypical.”