Chesterfield radio station apologises after wrongly reporting death of ex-Bolsover MP Dennis Skinner

Chesterfield Radio posted the incorrect piece of news on its Facebook page on Friday night.

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The station – which said the wrong information was ‘passed on to us’ – removed the post after speaking to Mr Skinner’s nephew, who confirmed he was alive.

Paul Wragsdale, a director of Chesterfield Radio, told the Derbyshire Times: “As an organisation made up of volunteers from across Chesterfield and surrounding areas, we have members on the team who have never been involved with media of any kind before and, as such, the story was published due to training issues and these have now been addressed internally and are part of one of our official processes that will ensure nothing like this is ever allowed to happen again.

“I spoke with Dennis’ nephew on Friday.

“During the phone call, I offered the station’s sincerest apologies which were accepted and the story was removed immediately and an apology was issued on our Facebook page.

“We fully understand the distress this caused and can only assure that these issues won’t arise again.

“As a group we have agreed to contact Dennis and make a donation to a charity of his choice.”

The station has faced a barrage of criticism on its Facebook page in response to its apology.

Mr Wragsdale said: “We have read each and every comment on our Facebook page following our apology and have noted every issue raised and these will be acted on.”

He added that ‘serious lessons have been learned from this disappointing time’.

“We hope, when we launch in October, the people of north Derbyshire will give us the chance to show them the good things we can do, and show them that we can provide great benefits through the programmes we are putting together as part of our off-air commitments,” he said.

“We will be broadcasting online initially meaning people will be able to listen directly through our website, select radio apps, and on smart speakers.”

Mr Skinner, 88, was Bolsover’s Labour MP between 1970 and 2019.

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