BBC Leeds radio station has apologised for broadcasting a competition about Moors murderer Ian Brady.

The station's guest host, Nathan Turvey, ran a ''guess the headline'' competition during its Sunday (21 May) breakfast programme. He played several pop hits and asked listeners to guess which celebrity the song was referring to.

More from IBTimes UK

Turvey's clues included the Brady Bunch theme tune, the song Suffer Little Children by The Smiths and Talking Heads Psycho Killer.

The radio competition sparked outrage, with people slamming the programme as "sickening", "distasteful" and "beyond crass."

One woman wrote on Twitter: "What on earth was going through that journalist's head who did an 'Ian Brady' competition on BBC Radio Leeds??"

Another person commented: "Award for the most tasteless, least compassionate promo - BBC Radio Leeds' Nathan Turvey + the Ian Brady song playlist. Why?"

Brady died on 16 May, at the age of the 79.

The serial killer and his accomplice Myra Hindley murdered five children in the 1960s, burying their bodies on Saddleworth Moor in the South Pennines.

The body of one of their victims, Keith Bennett, has never been found. Police have said they will not give up their search for Bennett's body, promising to act on all "credible and actionable information."

The BBC released a statement about the radio programme: "This was clearly unacceptable and we apologise. We are looking into how this happened."

The clip has been removed from iPlayer and the BBC's social media channels.