Brighton Bears basketball captain Randy Duck has become the victim of a cruel hoax on a gay web site.

His photographs and personal details were put on the site with invitations for people to contact him and leave colourful messages.

Plenty of people in Brighton are only too pleased to be on these web sites. But this was done without the sports star's permission in a bid to annoy and malign him. The firm that runs the web site has acted responsibly by removing the offending ad following complaints.

But there have been many other cases where malicious hoaxes have been put on the web and not removed, causing serious distress and damage.

It's hard to police the internet but, if these hoaxes become widespread, governments may have to consider controlling it in the same way newspapers and the broadcast media are vetted for material that could cause offence.

Meanwhile, Randy Duck can tell his many admirers through The Argus and the Bears' supporters club that the web site ad had nothing to do with him.