A complaint cannot be upheld against BBC Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox for playing a sound effect simulating cocaine-sniffing, a broadcasting watchdog has said.

A listener complained about the fact that Cox had played a track by Eminem containing the sound effect on the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show on 31 May.

Eminem: Track was edited for futue plays

But the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) said it would be inappropriate for it to take the matter further.

"The BBC said that the time available for editorial checks before airing the record had been shorter than usual," it said.

"Accordingly, the sound effect had not been picked up in advance. It had been spotted upon broadcast and had been edited out for further plays."

The sound effect is featured at the beginning of the track My Dad's Gone Crazy, from the star's latest album The Eminem Show.

The BSC ruled: "A Standards Panel listened to the programme and acknowledged the broadcaster's action to ensure that a similar occurrence would not happen again."

It also ruled that it would be "inappropriate" for them to take further action because they were convinced the BBC had made sure it would not happen again.

Apology

It is only the latest controversy to involve Cox's show.

In August 2000 she was criticised by the BBC when she said the since deceased Queen Mother "smells of wee".

She was also forced to apologise to listeners earlier this year after an interview with reggae star Shaggy and comedian Sacha Baron-Cohen in his Ali G persona.

Baron-Cohen's language was so strong that Shaggy commented: "I hope to God my mum isn't listening."

The show lost more than one million listeners in the year up to last August.