He prides himself on cutting close to the bone but entertainer Terry Garoghan went too far in a Southern FM show according to broadcasting watchdogs.

A complaint against Mr Garoghan, who hosts the award-winning Last Bus To Whitehawk programme, has been upheld by the Radio Authority.

A listener contacted the station saying his German wife found a section of the show focussing on the "lighter side" of German life to be racist and upsetting.

Station bosses agreed to stop running the feature but in a later broadcast Mr Garoghan returned to the subject on-air and "mockingly" commented on the complaint.

Another listener raised the issue with the Radio Authority.

In its report, the watchdog said: "Two listeners were offended by a regular feature.

"The first listener said it 'always has racist comments against people of German nationality. My wife is German and finds this very upsetting'.

"The second listener told us he was 'offended because the presenter mentioned that he got into trouble because someone reported him because he did German jokes'."

In its ruling the authority said: "We asked the station for a recording and comments.

"In response to the first complaint, the programme controller told us: 'The feature is an occasional item that takes a look at unusual stories from Germany. It is meant to be light-hearted and is clearly not meant to be offensive.

"'In light of the complaint, we've re-examined the feature and on the basis that it has caused offence we've now stopped running the feature'."

The programme controller had been "dismayed" at the second complaint and it appeared to be an on-air reaction to the request to remove the feature.

The authority concluded: "We listened to recordings of both broadcasts.

"Although we were doubtful about the humorous element of the first German story, we would have considered the issue resolved as the station had decided to discontinue the feature.

"However, listening to the output related to the subsequent complaint, we heard the presenter mockingly continue with the feature while referring to details of the earlier complaint.

"It was clear that the issue of offence to listeners had been given scant regard."

The complaint was upheld and the authority recommended to the Ofcom Content Board that any further similar breaches be brought before them to consider regulatory sanctions.

A Southern FM spokeswoman said: "He did make a comment about Germans on air and there was a complaint to the Radio Authority. From our point of view it is obviously a personal view which we don't condone and it has been dealt with internally."

On Mr Garoghan's web site he says: "The Last Bus is like a night out at your local pub quiz.

"The conversation goes here, there and everywhere and invariably gets a bit near the knuckle. We're all good mates just having a laugh over a pint. So leave it!

"The title was inspired by a notorious suburb of Brighton known as Whitehawk.

"The real last bus to Whitehawk has the reputation locally of being a rough ride, full of lippy birds and nutty geezers - just like the show in fact.

"Everything is live and totally unscripted. It can go anywhere at any moment. That's what makes it so much fun to do and, hopefully, to listen to."

In response to The Argus' questions, Mr Garoghan said: "I have no comment to make."