A former British pirate radio station on Wednesday apologised “for any distress caused” after accidentally announcing the death of King Charles.

The erroneous announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon due to a computer error at its main studio in Maldon in eastern Essex, Radio Caroline said in a post on social media.

The error had triggered the so-called death of a monarch procedure “which all UK stations hold in readiness while hoping not to require”, station manager Peter Moore said.

“Radio Caroline then fell silent as would be required, which alerted us to restore programming and issue an on-air apology,” he said on social media.

“Caroline has been pleased to broadcast Her Majesty the Queen’s and now the King’s, Christmas message and we hope to do so for many years to come,” he said, referring to the monarch’s traditional Christmas Day message to the nation.

“We apologise to HM [his majesty] the king and to our listeners for any distress caused,” Moore added.