Radio station: We tried to contact hospital five times

The Australian radio station embroiled in the royal baby hoax scandal has said it tried to make contact with the hospital again after recording the prank call.

In an interview on a Melbourne radio station aired late last night, Rhys Holleran, the chief executive of Austereo, owners of 2Day FM, said his team had rung the King Edward VII hospital in London five times before airing the conversation about the health of Kate Middleton.

He said he believed the station’s staff had carried out the appropriate level of duty while performing the prank.