A BBC spokesman said it would be considering the report "with great care", adding the BBC’s own investigation is nearing conclusion and the recommendations will be published.

He said the Corporation intend to ensure all lessons learned from both reports are applied across the BBC.


Hammond in science book accolade - May 16 22007
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has won a top prize after writing a children’s science book.

Can You Feel The Force? uses physics to answer questions such as "What’s inside an atom?" and "Can you walk on custard?"

The Royal Society awarded Hammond its Junior Prize for Science Books.

His book was chosen from a shortlist of six by junior judging panels made up of almost 1,000 young people from 100 school and youth groups.

The result was announced at the Royal Society’s book awards ceremony in London. Hammond, who has made a remarkable recovery from serious head injuries after he crashed in a jet-powered car last September, won a prize of £10,000.

Eleanor Updale, chair of the judging panels, said: "This instantly appealing book traces the roots of physics to the dawn of civilisation, but concentrates on the way physical forces are at work in all our lives today.

"With clear illustrations, practical experiments, and well-paced text, it makes an interest in science look like fun - and above all, normal."

The Royal Society’s Prize for Science Books went to Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University in the US, for his best-selling book Stumbling On Happiness. The book draws on psychology and neuroscience, as well as personal experience, to look at the various ways people attempt to make themselves happy.

Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society, presented the £10,000 prize.

Professor Colin Pillinger, chair of the judges, said: "Stumbling On Happiness is an outstanding and highly readable winner of this year’s Royal Society Prize for Science Books.

"Daniel Gilbert’s voice provides a witty companion throughout this exploration of the science behind the pursuit of happiness - an issue which fascinates us all."

Richard: Top Gear right to show crash - April 4 2007
Brave presenter Richard Hammond has said that the BBC was right to show footage of his near fatal 288mph car crash.

The 37-year-old, who was in a coma for two weeks after the horrific accident, told Star magazine that he was amazed to see the crash film.

"If it didn’t kill me at the time, it wasn’t going to kill me just watching it. But to see details - like the crash helmet that saved my life and the harness that stopped me being smashed to pieces - took my breath away," he said, adding that he felt it was important that viewers were not shielded from the images.

"It’s a sensitive issue but I think it would have been irresponsible for us not to show it. Things go wrong - that’s how it is in the world."

And he said that while his brain injury was extremely serious, he doesn’t have a scratch on him.

"Not a mark! Nothing, honestly. I’m very, very lucky. There were no physical complications at all, it was just my brain."

"After the crash I had post-traumatic amnesia, which meant I had a five-second memory."

The star, known to Top Gear fans as Hamster, has been overwhelmed by the support he has had from well wishers.

A whopping eight million viewers tuned in to see his return to the show and he has even become something of an unintentional heart-throb.