THE controversial radio phone-in host, Scottie McClue, who has been hailed as the saviour of Scot FM, has incurred the wrath of broadcast watchdogs for a second time after repeatedly using the word ``bastard'' during a programme about single mothers.

The presenter, whose real name is Colin Lamont, has been censured by the Radio Authority for breaching the 1990 Broadcasting Act covering taste and decency. He was fined #3000 and ordered to broadcast an on-air apology.

The Leith-based radio station, which covers central Scotland, is liable for the fine but management would not reveal last night whether they had disciplined the host.

The incident occurred last April during his mid-morning show when the presenter was said to have used the word at least five times.

It is the second time in the 14 months since McClue joined Scot FM - Scotland's newest radio station - that it has been reprimanded by broadcast watchdogs over comments he made.

Last August, the Radio Authority criticised the station over McClue's insults directed at gay men and women while he was presenting a late-night talk show saying that the comments broke radio codes on sexual stereotyping.

In a statement on the latest reprimand, the Radio Authority said: ``In a discussion on single mothers, the authority found that the presenter's choice of language and the general tone of the programme, broadcast during school holidays, was unacceptable.''

Mr Cameron Pirie, Scot FM's head of marketing, said last night: ``We are disappointed we have been fined. There is always a grey area with these things. The mid-morning programme is designed to cause debate. It is not designed to be placid.''

It is the first time McClue has been fined. In recent months, his phone-in programme has been switched from a late-night spot to mid-morning in a move designed to boost the station's listening figures.

McClue's often abrasive style and outspoken comments - he describes girls who wear short skirts and make-up as ``tarts and temptresses'' - have prompted the view that he has courted controversy since he joined the station.

Mr Lamont, asked in the past if McClue - referred to by some as the Alf Garnett of the airwaves - was dangerous, said: ``He is not so much dangerous as inflammable.''