[Luanda]

The BBC Television Centre switchboard was under siege tonight as thousands of callers demanded to be told if Huw Edwards wears a wig. Insiders at the BBC have for weeks been fending off questions from investigative reporters demanding to know if the Welsh newsreader, aged 25 from Cardiff, wears a syrup.

A BBC spokesman who refused to be named said, "Huw has a weirdly spelt first name and we are doing all we can to understand why".

Commentators working for the independent TV monitoring service, TV Watch, said they had spent hours looking at pictures of Mr Edwards, aged 37 from Swansea, and could find no evidence of a wig using state of the art machines called computers.

A spokesman for Mr Edwards said he would make a full statement in the fullness of time but could confirm that a wig was worn during the 10pm news bulletin one day last week and would be worn again this coming Thursday.

Protestors acting for the Cats Protection League demanded action from the government as it is understood the dead cat Mr Edwards wears on his head is an endangered species known in Dewsbury as a Ginger Tom.

Bruce Forsyth is 32.