BBC News ticker suggests The Queen tested positive for morphine

Pictures have surfaced online of a BBC News Channel which made it look as if Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive for morphine.

The news station's ticker was scrolling across the screen at the time the news broke one of her racehorses, Estimate, had failed a drug test.

A picture is doing the round with the scrolling text simply saying 'The Queen has tested positive for morphine'

The picture was taken and posted by quick internet users who took the shot as the first half of of the message trailed off the screen.

The message in its entirety read 'A racehorse owned by the Queen has tested positive for morphine'

A BBC spokesman said:"The ticker on the BBC News Channel correctly showed the whole headline as it scrolled along the screen.

"A screen grab has been taken which omits 'A racehorse owned by' and only shows the rest of the sentence."

Estimate, a five-year-old filly, came second in this year's Ascot Gold Cup is believed to have registered a positive result after eating contaminated feed.