Huw Edwards allegedly warned by BBC over online behaviour two years before being taken off air

BBC presenter Huw Edwards was warned about his online behaviour two years before the scandal which saw him taken off air, it was claimed today. According to The Sunday Times a woman, who at the time was in her late 40s, contacted the corporation in May 2021 asking for them to intervene to get the presenter, from Llangennech near Llanelli to stop contacting her.

It said the woman, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, had exchanged messages with the presenter at first on social media site Instagram then later on email. However she then asked for the BBC to get involved to stop the contact.

The publication said the BBC had since investigated the way it had handled the complaint but the results have not been released. This investigation was reportedly completed earlier this month, days before the presenter's resignation.

According to the newspaper report the presenter was told of the earlier complaint "within hours" by a manager at the corporation. The woman then retracted her complaint after being contacted by Edwards.

The woman allegedly made a second complaint in January 2022 when she told the BBC corporate investigations team that she had withdrawn the first after being contacted by the star. The second complaint was also swiftly withdrawn with the woman later claiming it was after she had been contacted by the presenter.

Despite the retraction, a senior BBC manager is reported to have held a meeting with Edwards on February 23, 2022. The review allegedly states: “A senior member of News leadership advised that further concerns had been raised and that contact with you should now cease.” The corporation admits that the second meeting “could have been conducted more formally”. The two subsequently began emailing each other again.

A third complaint was then made following separate allegations which emerged last July that an unnamed presenter had received sexual images from a young person. Their family complained in May 2023 however the young person, speaking through a lawyer, said the allegations were "rubbish".

In July, his wife Vicky Flind named him as the suspended star. She revealed he was in hospital receiving treatment for his mental health.

Following the latest report Edward's lawyers are reported to have said he was unable to comment on "unsubstantiated" allegations. The BBC also said it could not comment on the specific complaint.

It told the Sunday Times: “More generally, when dealing with non-editorial complaints we have longstanding and robust processes in place. We will always seek to handle any such issues with care, fairness and sensitivity to everyone concerned, but, as we have set out, there will always be a limit to what can be said or shared about such processes.”

The BBC presenter, Edwards, who was the BBC's highest-paid newsreader earning more than £435,000 last year, signed a three-year extension to his contract with the BBC 13 months ago. He has been one of the most recognisable faces in UK journalism for decades. He has held a prominent role presenting the BBC's 10 o'clock News as well as the Queen's funeral and the King Charles ' coronation.

He was suspended in July, following claims he paid thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images. The police have found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the presenter.