Brand: 'Sachs phone prank was horrible'

Russell Brand has admitted that he felt guilty when he heard that Andrew Sachs had been hurt by his prank phone calls.

Brand left a series of lewd messages on the Fawlty Towers star's answerphone during an edition of his BBC Radio 2 show in October 2008, prompting thousands of complaints to broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

The comedian later resigned from the corporation, while Jonathan Ross, who participated in the prank, was suspended without pay for three months.

Speaking to The Times, Brand revealed: "When I think of that moment of Andrew Sachs putting on his answerphone and hearing it and being a bit upset, that makes me think it was horrible, and my response to that was to write a letter in which I sincerely apologised for that moment.

"I have no interest in hurting people. I deeply admire Fawlty Towers and know it by heart. It's unfortunate this incident is over something where I don't have rectitude, because I'm up for a confrontation with the Daily Mail."

The BBC was fined £150,000 by Ofcom this week after the regulator found that Sachs's privacy had been "unwarrantably and seriously infringed".

Maintaining that the incident was blown out of proportion, Brand commented: "You wouldn't have heard of it if it wasn’t for the Daily Mail."