BBC Northern Ireland is refusing to confirm if star ‘shock jock’ Stephen Nolan was the victim of a hoax caller on his radio show.

A number of people contacted the Belfast Telegraph after an interview broadcast on yesterday’s Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster during a discussion on punishment beatings in Northern Ireland.

During the interview on the self-professed “biggest show in the country”, a man said he had been the victim of a punishment attack after he began dating the daughter of a top paramilitary leader.

During questioning from Nolan the main said that his ankles had been seriously injured during the attack when he was beaten with pick-axe handles.

While the interview was continuing the man asked the radio star “How’s the diet going?” — a reference to Nolan’s well-publicised battle with his weight.

Later when Nolan asked the man about the state of his ankles he was told “I’ll be on rollerblades the rest of my life”. At this point the interview was terminated.

When yesterday’s Nolan Show appeared online on the BBC iPlayer service the interview had been removed from the transmission.

One Nolan listener said: “This was a serious discussion on punishment attacks. Either this man was a hoax caller or he was seriously disturbed. Either way he should not have been put on a live radio show.”

Another listener, Tom Neill, said: “I was disappointed this was allowed to be broadcast. It was totally irresponsible.”

The Belfast Telegraph asked BBC Northern Ireland if they were satisfied the story broadcast yesterday was genuine and if they would be reviewing their editorial policies.

A BBC spokesman refused to comment on the authenticity of the story. He said: “We are satisfied with our editorial procedures. It would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment.”

When asked why the interview had been removed from the iPlayer transmission the spokesman said: “The iPlayer version of our programmes, including The Stephen Nolan Show, can sometimes slightly differ from the on-air version after it has gone through our editorial processes.”