The BBC have been criticised by British TV watchdog Ofcom for broadcasting swear words by Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Razorlight and Green Day at the Live 8 concerts last summer (JUL06).

Rapper Snoop Dogg finished his set at the London leg of the poverty awareness gigs, shouting, "What's my motherf**kin' name?", while Madonna asked the audience, "Are you f**king ready, London?"

The stars' foul-mouthed behaviour was broadcast live to British television viewers, including children, before the 9pm watershed, which prompted over 350 complaints to Ofcom.

In a statement, the BBC said that while it regretted the offence, there was a "confrontation between the organisers and senior editorial figures from the BBC meant that the two key BBC editorial personnel missed much of the performance by Snoop Dogg and were unable to set the apology procedure in motion".

While Snoop Dogg had promised to perform child-friendly "TV versions" of his songs, his record company later apologised, insisting the hip-hop star went "into gig mode and forgot the time of the day".