TV station bosses have managed to pull the plug on an Internet hate campaign directed at them.

The Oxford Channel was subjected to abusive e-mails and phone calls after a web site was set up asking people to have a go at the station.

Channel 6 bosses faced "vicious" e-mails and wind-up phone calls until they managed to track down the culprit and got him to put a stop to the site.

Although the web address is still in operation, the channel says it has not received any e-mails for months, as it is thought the owner no longer runs the service despite still having a presence on the Net.

Surfers were given a list of abusive messages they could directly e-mail to staff at the station such as "Bill Heine thinks he's Lloyd Grossman".

Some were about the presenters' personal lives and bosses launched an immediate investigation into the 'Oxford Channel Hate Site'.

Spokesman Becky Walker said: "It really was quite vicious and nasty. The site had been up and running for a while, but we managed to track down the man behind it and he agreed to stop.

"Some of the stuff we got was not pleasant at all and was plain vicious.

"But that's all in the past. The web site has not been updated and looks quite dated now."