Glastonbury 2014: BBC accidentally tells viewers to 'prepare for rape' at music festival

The weather report's subtitles should have read 'prepare for rain'

Antonia Molloy
Friday 27 June 2014 09:00 BST
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Festival goers enjoy the sun ahead of predicted rain as revellers gather ahead of this weekends Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset
Festival goers enjoy the sun ahead of predicted rain as revellers gather ahead of this weekends Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset

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Glastonbury revellers have been told to pack their wellies and waterproofs - and to "prepare for rape".

Festival-goers may have been slightly miffed to see the "advice" appear during the weather report on BBC News at Ten on Tuesday night - but they can rest easy that the ominous warning was the result of a subtitles blunder.

But few mistakes go unnoticed in the age of Twitter and numerous users took to the social media platform to express their surprise.

User @SamMorganSmith tweeted: "BBC tell Glastonbury goers to prepare for rape. Cloudy with a chance of not proof reading."

And @CarrieGibson said: "Be prepared. Whatever the weather!"

A BBC spokesperson apologised for the gaffe, saying that it was an "unfortunate typo".

"We try to ensure subtitling is as accurate as possible, but there are times when mistakes inevitably occur," they said.

It is not the first time the BBC have aired inappropriate subtitles. Ringing in the Chinese New Year in February, the broadcaster declared 2014 the "year of the whores", instead of the year of the horse.

John Griffiths, a forecaster with Meteogroup, said: “If it was just a few showers the hard ground would make it drain off. But after three days’ worth of rain it will probably get quite muddy, I suspect.”

This year's event will see Metallica, Kasabian and Arcade Fire headlining the world-famous musical extravaganza, with other major acts on the bill including The Black Keys, Massive Attack and Pixies.

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