The BBC has once more been plunged into a 'fakery' row after it emerged that several of its popular daytime television shows used production staff to pose as members of public.

In a statement the BBC has strongly defended its integrity and said that it takes all breaches of editorial guidelines seriously.

One of the shows, featuring veteran TV presenter, Angela Rippon in the travel and antiques show Sun, Sea & Bargain Spotting was found to be lacking when two 'competitors' go bargain hunting for antiques in France and then attempt to make a profit on a market stall in London. While attempting to sell an 'acrylic panel', a man offers £25 for the item.

It was disclosed that the individual was in fact a cameraman on the show, New Zealand-born Craig Harman.

Trash For Cash, the BBC One auction show, was also among the programmes that were found to have misled viewers.

In Trash for Cash - in which members of the public "clear out their clutter" and sell it for charity at a table stall outside their house - there were several incidences of production staff posing as customers. The show's presenters have included Lorne Spicer and Jacey Normand.

In Dealers: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, on BBC One, in one episode, a friend stood in for someone who was selling a sofa but did not want to appear on television.

This incident will be particularly damaging to the BBC, which has been forced to tighten up its compliance procedures after a string of viewer and listener deceptions in the past.

Reef Television, the independent production company who make the programmes, was suspended for the past three months while the BBC carried out an investigation after it "failed to meet the high standards that the BBC expects of all programme makers".

As the report from the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee makes clear, Reef Television co-operated fully throughout the BBC investigation and never deliberately set out to mislead either the audience or the BBC.

However, during the investigation a number of editorial breaches came to light and these have resulted in a series of penalties for Reef Television, including an agreement to a compensatory payment to the BBC and a three-month suspension of all business.

During the suspension, at the BBC's insistence, but with the company's full cooperation, Reef Television was required to overhaul completely its compliance processes and editorial standards training.

Following a rigorous and thorough process, the BBC is now satisfied that the company has compliance procedures and training of an appropriate standard, said a statement.

Reef Television will now resume work on two existing BBC projects and be free to pitch new work to the BBC in future.

The BBC will review Reef Television's editorial standards performance in six months time.

(BMcC/KMcA)