South London Press editor Hannah Walker has admitted a football report that jokingly referred to the highly publicised suicides in Bridgend was ‘insensitive”.
As Millwall lost to Huddersfield 1-0 last week, the twice-weekly paper’s sports editor, Toby Porter, wrote in his report: ‘Be thankful – at least you don’t live in Bridgend,’in reference to a mounting number of young suicides in the Welsh county borough.
He went on: ‘It’s tough being a Millwall fan at the moment. And anyone who saw the result on Tuesday night might at first have been tempted to move there, even if it is in Wales.’
Walker said no complaints have been made regarding the story.
She said. ‘I have discussed it with Toby and it is very insensitive.
‘I would apologise to any families involved – we wouldn’t want to cause them any undue stress.
‘We are a local community newspaper so we have to be very sensitive towards these sorts of issues. It is a very regrettable phrase.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog