Angry radio listeners jammed the switchboards when a spoof brawl between two presenters was broadcast on air.

Fans of DJ Bob Staunton, who appeared to have been beaten and verbally abused by fellow presenter Tommy Boyd, were unaware they had been victims of a six-month hoax.

It emerged yesterday that Bob, a cantankerous presenter whose offensive views had attracted hundreds of complaints from listeners to BBC Southern Counties Radio since he joined the station, is not even a real person.

He was dreamt up by Tommy, who gave Bob his own air time and became increasingly bemused as the character's archaic and right-wing opinions struck a chord with some listeners.

In reality, Bob was nothing more than Tommy putting on a grumpy old man's voice.

On Saturday, the pair were heard arguing before a full-blown fist-fight broke out.

Tommy, who has famously been sacked 27 times, is waiting to see if the Broadcasting Standards Commission will respond to listeners' calls for him to lose job number 28.

He said: "I was getting embarrassed by the success of Bob so I decided to kill him off.

"Having the fight was a bit tricky, I was punching myself in the stomach, slapping my face and groaning.

"Bob has completely ludicrous views on things. He thinks children should be fed more cakes because if they are obese they won't be able to mug little old ladies.

"We had lots of letters of complaint but lots of people phoning in and agreeing with him.

"He was based on some listeners who astonished me with their ignorance of current affairs. He was offensive but people enjoy taking offence. I was shocked at how many people believed in him.

"Even after this, I'm still not sure people will believe he's a fake."