THE BBC HAS apologised for an “inappropriate comment” that was captured during one of its programmes commemorating the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings.

The comment was heard during ‘D-Day 80: Tribute To The Fallen’, which aired on 5 June.

The programme was presented by Kirsty Young from the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeux, France. 

During the broadcast, Young introduced a commentator and crossed over to live pictures of a military band.

But before the cameras cut away from the studio, a voice could be heard off-camera that appeared to say “French arseholes”. 

A clip from the live broadcast has since been widely shared on social media. 

Not sure what exactly happened here during the BBC’s D-Day coverage. pic.twitter.com/QgOGXDFwzH

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) June 5, 2024

A spokesman for the BBC said: “We sincerely apologise for an inappropriate comment that was captured during live coverage of the D-Day 80 event in Bayeux.”

The PA news agency understands that the programme was unavailable on BBC iPlayer while editing took place, but is now back online.

Western leaders gathered in France today to salute the sacrifice of soldiers who lost their lives in the D-Day landings, mindful of the war in Europe raging 80 years on following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden, Britain’s King Charles III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, representing the Allied powers, paid tribute to the tens of thousands of troops who landed on the sandy beaches of Normandy in northern France on 6 June, 1944.

With reporting from Press Association