A BBC journalist's Twitter account falsely reported that the Queen had been hospitalised this morning.

Ahmen Khawaja, a broadcast journalist, has since deleted the tweets reporting the news. She initially tweeted that they were the result of a "silly prank" – but this tweet has now also been deleted. 

A BBC statement said they were sent accidentally during a "technical rehearsal for an obituary".

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According to Huffington Post, which has screen grabs of the tweets, Khawaja reported: "BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @BBCWorld".

Four minutes later, the account added: "False Alarm to Queen's death! She is being treated at King Edward 7th hospital. Statement due shortly".

She corrected both tweets later, saying on Twitter: "False Alarm: Have deleted previous tweets!!"

And she also tweeted: "phone left unattended at home. Silly prank, Apologies for upsetting anyone!" This tweet has now been deleted.

A BBC spokesperson said: “During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill.

"The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence.”

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