Scott Mills Show cleared of breach over Essex girls jokes

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Scott Mills (l) and Bobby Norris (r)Image source, Ian West/PA
Image caption,

The Scott Mills Show was investigated after the jokes were made on air by reality star Bobby Norris (r)

Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills' show has been cleared of breaching broadcasting rules over jokes made about Essex girls.

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received two complaints about the jokes aired during a 24-hour show for Comic Relief.

They were made by guest Bobby Norris, from the reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex (Towie), on the show in March.

Ofcom said while "some of the jokes had the potential to offend" they were "unlikely to have exceeded most listeners' expectations".

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Mr Norris made the quips after the hosts of the Radio 1 show told listeners he was there to say a "couple of sets of Essex girl jokes".

Mr Mills had told listeners: "I'd like to point out, before anyone complains, this is a person from Essex, living in Essex on a show (Towie) about Essex."

He added: "I'm enjoying this so much."

A BBC spokeswoman previously said that "no offence was intended by the jokes".

Some of the lines broadcast during the 15 March show which sparked the complaints included, "what's the first thing an Essex girl does in the morning? Goes home.".

The term "Essex girl", which first came into use in the early 1990s, is included in the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines it as "derogatory" and "a contemptuous term applied to a type of young woman, supposedly to be found in and around Essex, and variously characterised as unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic".

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