Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman has made an on-air apology after reading out an email from a listener which provoked dozen of complaints.

The DJ had asked listeners to write in to her afternoon show with different uses of slang.
One email suggested the phrase "Pearl Harbour" could to refer to cold weather, and used the word "nips" as a derogatory term for Japanese people.

Radio 1 said Bowman read the term out in error and that no offence was intended.

A colleague at the station later described the incident as "an innocent gaffe".

The 31-year old DJ apologised half an hour after the comment was broadcast just before 1.30pm. She said: "Sometimes people say things that might be a derogatory term, but if you're not aware of it you don't know."

Following complaints upheld by regulator Ofcom about swearing on the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show and derogatory comments the DJ made towards women, Radio 1 said it was introducing fines for DJs who used offensive language on air.