The BBC has issued an apology after broadcasting a Jimmy Carr joke that offended gypsies on Radio 4.

The controversial gag was broadcast on Ned Sherrin's usually inoffensive Loose Ends talk show over Christmas.

And the corporation has launched an inquiry into how it made it to air, as the programme is broadcast in advance and the gag could easily have been cut.

Speaking on the Saturday morning show, Carr said: ‘The male gypsy moth can smell the female gypsy moth up to seven miles away - and that fact also works if you remove the word “moth'”.’

The Gypsy Council said they were angered but not surprised by the joke.

Secretary Ann Bagehot told The Guardian she had become used to such remarks. "If I had a thin skin, I would be bleeding but what I am curious about is this - what is Jimmy Carr's point? It's not as if it's funny, is it?

‘Does he want people to spit at gypsy women because they smell? Does he want people to look at gypsy women and say 'pooh'? There are certain groups of people that everyone thinks they can make jokes about and you have to shrug your shoulders and move on.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘This joke should never have been transmitted. We apologise unreservedly for any offence caused.’