A LIVERPOOL breakfast-show DJ has been forced to resign after an expletive-laden trailer was accidently played to listeners.

Simon O’Brien, co-host of BBC Radio Merseyside’s morning slot, announced his decision yesterday following a number of complaints.

Hours earlier, at 6.30am, O’Brien had played a pre-recorded trailer to promote another programme on the station, during which two four-letter words which should have been cut out were broadcast.

The trailer, for Roger Phillips’ evening show, featured the two DJs discussing the regeneration of Edge Lane in the city.

O’Brien was clearly heard saying: “f*** the government, f*** the planners”.

By lunchtime he had quit the station.

He said: “I am very sorry for the lapse yesterday morning, which will have caused offence to many listeners.

“The pre-recorded material, which was entirely my work, was never meant to be broadcast.

“I further stress that the views aired were my personal views and in no way reflect the editorial position of BBC Radio Merseyside or the BBC in general.

“In the circumstances, I have decided the correct thing to do is to resign from BBC Radio Merseyside with immediate effect.”

A spokesperson for BBC Radio Merseyside said: “We are very sorry that Simon is leaving the station under these circumstances.

“We are grateful to Simon for his contribution to BBC Radio Merseyside in the time he has been here.

“We wish him every success in the future.”

Listener Robert Briscoe from Wallasey said: “It was absolutely disgusting.

“At the very least I would like an explanation. There was an apology on air, but they seemed to gloss over it without saying what went wrong.”

The BBC says it is “urgently investigating” how the trailer came to be broadcast, adding that the incident was “an unacceptable lapse which should not have happened.”

Garston-born O’Brien, 42, had been hosting the breakfast show since September last year.

At the time, he told the Daily Post that radio work was comparable to his previous stints in theatre, saying: “Once you're on the air, that's that and there ain't no hiding place.”

Best known for his role as Damon Grant in Liverpool soap Brookside, in recent years he also forayed into property develop- ment and television presenting.

Radio Merseyside co-host Lucinda Moore will carry on presenting the programme alone.

vickyanderson