THE BBC has blamed showing old footage of Boris Johnson laying a wreath on a "production error".

The Prime Minister was pictured laying a poppy wreath upside down on the Cenotaph during Sunday's National Service of Remembrance in London.

His handwritten message, pinned to the top of his wreath, said: "To the immortal memory of those who laid down their lives for us all."

But when he approached the war memorial on Whitehall, video coverage showed him turning the wreath over, which meant his message ended up at the bottom of the wreath and upside down.

Other political leaders, including the Home and Foreign Secretaries, then laid their wreaths next to his with the messages at the top, not the bottom.

The BBC was widely criticised for not showing Sunday's footage, instead showing footage from 2016 on its flagship morning TV programme BBC Breakfast on Monday morning.

The mistake was picked up by LBC producer Ava Evans, who pointed out the BBC was showing footage from 2016.

"This was a production mistake and we apologise for the error," the corporation said in a statement.

Some newspapers pointed out that Johnson apparently placed the wreath "upside down" at the Cenotaph, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also came under criticism from some who felt he did not bow deeply enough.

Twitter users questioned how the error happened.

Others asked how the BBC would manage to stay impartial during coverage of the December 12 General Election.

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