5 Live defend using MacKenzie on the BBC

BBC Radio 5 Live controller Bob Shennan has reportedly hit back at criticism of the inclusion of former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie on the station.

According to The Guardian, there had already been complaints about using MacKenzie to oversee the letters page in last week's edition of Ariel, the BBC's in-house magazine, because of his involvement in The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough stadium disaster.

Shennan said that MacKenzie's views were often challenged, and was quoted in Ariel saying: "Like other BBC channels we have used him in programmes occasionally, drawing on his background and experience as a tabloid editor."

The station controller went on to say that following MacKenzie's comments about Hillsborough on Question Time in January , the former editor had been challenged about The Sun's coverage of the disaster, with MacKenzie admitting that the reporting may have been wrong in some areas.

Shennan confirmed that 5 Live programme, presented by Matthew Bannister, had debated the reaction to MacKenzie's comments at length, and that MacKenzie was "subject to the same rigour and analysis as anyone else," when used by the BBC.