EastEnders rapped for showing businesswoman's mobile number

A woman who received nearly 3,000 unwanted text messages after her mobile phone number was displayed on BBC1's EastEnders has had her complaint upheld by media regulator Ofcom. Lisa Edwards's business mobile number was shown on screen for four seconds in an episode of the BBC1 soap, broadcast on 7 September last year, when Sam Mitchell returned to Albert Square from Brazil. The BBC said the phone number, which appeared on Sam's ex-husband Ricky Butcher's mobile, had been displayed by accident but said it was unable to explain "with any certainty" how it happened. Ofcom upheld the complaint, describing it as an "unwarranted infringement of privacy". The regulator added: "Ofcom found that Mrs Edwards would not have expected her business mobile telephone number to appear on screen during an episode of a soap opera." The programme featured a close-up shot of Ricky's mobile with a text message that had been sent by Sam. Immediately above the message were two further messages which had been sent from Edwards's phone, clearly displaying her mobile number. Ofcom said it had led to a "series of unwanted and abusive telephone calls and texts being received by Mrs Edwards, further added to after the repeat broadcast of the programme later that evening on BBC3". The BBC said its programme team had tried to find out how the texts had come to be sent to the prop phone, one of a number it uses on the soap. It said a network fault or misdialled number could have been to blame. The BBC said the number of calls and messages to Edwards's phone may have been inflated after she complained to the Sun about the incident and the number was clearly displayed in a screen grab published in the paper. The corporation added it had since overhauled its procedures in relation to the use of mobile phones and phone numbers on screen. One of the texts said: "Hi babe phoning for huge" and the other read: "Hi babe got your facial b". Edwards told the Sun at the time of the incident that she had received more than 500 calls and hundreds of texts in two hours. Several had asked: "Is that Sam from EastEnders?" "The calls just keep coming and I can't use my phone for my business," she said. "Most have been friendly but quite a few were obscene." The BBC said it had apologised for the mistake. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".