JERSEY was known as a something of a hide-out for fraudsters when Bergerac was on the TV in the 1980s chasing mobsters through St Helier.

The idea of an Island populated by jewel thieves may be long gone, but one UK newspaper has been forced to apologise for suggesting that Jersey was still harbouring shady characters. In an article about the perils of online shopping, The Sunday Times described the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man as ‘popular hide-outs for fraudsters’, saying that they were ‘strange locations’ in relation to the UK.

The slur was all too much for Isle of Man resident Ian Moncrief-Scott, who wrote to the Press Complaints Commission arguing that the locations were hardly ‘strange’, given that they are next to the UK, and pointing out that both places observed the highest standards of financial regulation.

The newspaper printed the following apology: ‘We are happy to confirm that the jurisdictions of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are properly regulated and that the authorities deal robustly with fraudsters who attempt to abuse the good name of the islands. There is no evidence of specific eBay fraud by residents in the jurisdictions. We would like to apologise to any resident who was distressed by the description of the Islands as ‘‘strange locations’’.’’

• Picture: The characters of Charlie Hungerford and Jim Bergerac in the 80s TV series