The BBC have ‘removed a plaque’ dedicated to fired presenter Scott Mills from Radio 1’s studio.
Last week it was announced the radio presenter, 53, was fired from the national broadcaster following allegations over his ‘personal conduct’, which allegedly relate to a ‘historic relationship dating back more than 10 years’.
It was later revealed that he was let go after an alleged complaint was made against him about a historic police investigation into ‘serious sexual offences against a boy under 16’, reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000. However, the case was dropped around seven years ago due to a lack of evidence.
A few days later, outgoing director general Tim Davie told staff it was ‘very clear’ Mills had to be fired after receiving ‘new information’ about him.
Since then, Mills has not only lost his slot at Radio 1’s Breakfast presenter but has been replaced as a Eurovision commentator and had a plaque honouring him at the Fleet Services bridge on the M3 taken down.
It’s now also been reported that the BBC have removed a plaque dedicated to him from Radio 1’s main broadcasting studio in London. Mills worked for Radio 1 from 1998 to 2022, then moving to Radio 2 to host the Breakfast Show.
However, The Sun has now said the plaque was quietly removed over the Bank Holiday weekend.
‘Scott had the Radio 1 studio named after him when he left for Radio 2,’ a source told the publication.
‘It’s a silver plaque which is up on a wall. It’s the studio where Greg James hosts his Radio 1 Breakfast Show from.
‘People in and out of the studio over the weekend noticed it had been taken down. His photographs have been removed from the Radio 2 areas too. It’s the talk of Broadcasting House.’
Although the BBC knew Mills had been investigated by police in 2018, he was sacked late last month following a second probe undertaken by the broadcaster.
Mills has only spoken publicly once in the past week, releasing a statement last week which read: ‘An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.
‘As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.
‘Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven years ago, I hope the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment.’
It was in January last year that Mills took over Radio 2’s Breakfast Show from Zoe Ball. Before his sacking, he’d been one of the highest-paid presenters at the BBC, with a salary of £315,000 to £319,999.
The BBC are expected to announce his replacement in coming weeks, with bookies singling out Vernon Kay, Gary Davies and Rylan Clark favourites to take over.
A BBC spokesperson previously said of Mills’ firing: ‘Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.
‘We also recognise there’s been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.
‘What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values, and terminated his contracts on Friday March 27.’
‘Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time.’
The BBC said it ‘made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards’, and added that it set out ‘behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC’ and was ‘clear action would be taken’ if they were not met, last year, after an independent culture review.
The corporation has also apologised for not following up after a separate allegation of ‘inappropriate communications’ by Mills was raised last year
Metro has contacted the BBC for comment.
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