A plaque dedicated to Scott Mills at the Fleet Services bridge on the M3 has been removed following the star’s sacking from the BBC.
The plaque was officially unveiled over a decade ago on 16 March, 2016 following a light-hearted campaign on his show to have the bridge named after the radio host.
It is unclear when the plaque was removed, but a driver who stopped at the service station on Thursday (2 April) noticed that it had been taken down, as reported by The Sun.
The Independent has contacted Welcome Break, the company who own and operate the services, for comment.
News of the plaque’s disposal comes as a slate of Scott Mills-presented shows were also removed from both BBC iPlayer and Spotify.
It follows days after the BBC announced on Monday (30 March) that Mills had been fired over “allegations about his personal conduct”. It soon emerged that he had been investigated by police in 2016 over claims of “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000, with the Crown Prosecution Service deeming there to be insufficient evidence to bring charges.
The corporation has since admitted it knew about the police investigation, but said it “acted decisively” after receiving “new information” in the weeks before his sacking.
On Thursday (2 April), outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie said it became “very clear” that Mill had to be sacked.
The decision was a “real shock to the organisation”, Davie said as he discussed the incident during an all-staff call on his final day in the role, BBC News reported.
When asked about Mills during the call, Davie reportedly told staff: “We’re trying to act fairly. It was new information quite recently that we received that made it very clear about the decision we had to make.”
Mills had his contract terminated on Friday, just days after taking him off air. His firing was announced on Monday.
Mills, who is now 53 years old, landed his first job at Radio 1 in the late 1990s and spent more than 20 years at the station before making the switch to Radio 2 when he took over Steve Wright’s afternoon slot in 2022.
He secured the coveted breakfast show job in January last year.
On Wednesday (1 April), Mills said he had been the subject of “rumour and speculation” since he was fired, and that he “co-operated fully” with the police investigation into allegations of a historical sexual offence.
“As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges,” he said.
“Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed 7 years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter. I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues, and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.”
His abrupt exit has left BBC bosses facing tough decisions about a number of projects that he was due to front in the coming months, including coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest and Race Across the World: The Detour.
Follow along with all updates related to Scott Mills at The Independent’s live blog here.
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