While the name of the city remains hotly debated, the county side's official name is Derry GAA.. Picture by Charles McQuillan/Pacemaker

THE BBC has apologised after a presenter referred to `Londonderry' during a bulletin on the fortunes of Ulster's county GAA side during their weekend football league campaigns.

The announcer on Sunday's 6pm radio bulletin giving the winners and losers in the Alliance National League reported losses for "Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan and Londonderry".

This provoked a storm of criticism and complaint from Gaelic games fans as, while the name of the city remains hotly debated, the county's official name is Derry GAA.

A spokesman for Derry GAA said it was among those who contacted senior managers to complain about the bulletin.

"We were made aware of the BBC broadcast on Sunday evening," he said.

"We raised our concerns with senior management in the BBC on Monday morning. We have since received both an apology and assurances that it will not happen again."

A BBC spokesman did not confirm that an apology had been issued, but said it was an error rather than a change in policy.

"This was in error and was corrected as soon as possible and not repeated in any subsequent bulletin," he said.

"We wouldn't comment on the number or nature of complaints."

The BBC usually alternate between Derry and Londonderry when referring to the city itself and use the official name of any bodies in the county that contain either of the monikers.

Londonderry Chamber of Commerce is one of the few official bodies that retains the longer name, with Londonderry City Council renaming itself Derry City Council in 1984, at the same time the municipally-owned Londonderry Eglinton Airport becoming City of Derry Airport.

It has since been subsumed into Derry and Strabane District Council.