LONDON -- The BBC suspended two top presenters Wednesday over foul-mouthed comments aired about a veteran actor and his granddaughter, in the latest row to rock the British broadcaster.

Within hours of the BBC action one of the two broadcasters, Russell Brand, tendered his resignation, while the other, Jonathan Ross -- the BBC's highest-paid presenter -- issued a fulsome apology for the "juvenile" comments.

The row over the sexually-explicit remarks on a radio show has escalated into a media and political storm here, eclipsing the global financial crisis, the US election and conflict in Africa from front pages and news bulletins.

The controversy centers on messages left by Ross and Brand on the answerphone of 78-year-old Andrew Sachs, famed for his role as bumbling Spanish waiter Manuel in the hit 1970s TV comedy series "Fawlty Towers".

Listeners heard a series of explicit exchanges including a claim by Ross that Brand had had sex with Sachs's 23-year-old granddaughter.

The pair then discussed how Sachs might hang himself as a result, and how they could break into his house and perform a sex act on him by way of apology.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded the pair's behavior "inappropriate and unacceptable" and backed an investigation as the number of public complaints topped 18,000.

Presenter Ross, 47, is the publicly-funded BBC's highest-paid star, with an ?18-million ($29-million, ?22.5-million) three-year deal.

Brand, 33, is a top British entertainment figure and the comedian earns a reported ?400,000 a year for his radio program.

The calls were recorded two days earlier for his October 18 show. BBC producers called Sachs to check if he was happy to have them broadcast -- but aired the calls anyway despite the veteran saying no.

The BBC apologized on Monday, and the corporation's director general Mark Thompson said Wednesday that the broadcast was a "completely unacceptable... gross lapse of taste" which caused "severe offence."

An investigation is underway and Thompson said he would review the findings before announcing what action the BBC would take.

"In the meantime, I have decided that it is not appropriate for either Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross to continue broadcasting on the BBC until I have seen the full report of the actions of all concerned," he said.

In a statement late Wednesday Brand said he was resigning from his Radio 2 show, saying he took "complete responsibility" for the incident and that he got "caught up in the moment".

Ross also issued a statement, saying he "deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks ... have caused."

Sachs later said the episode had been "very upsetting" for himself and his wife who is ill in hospital, but was "not out for revenge" and would not be making a complaint to the police.

His granddaughter Georgina Baillie, a burlesque dancer and member of a group called the Satanic Sluts, said she felt "utterly horrified and disgusted" and called for the pair to be sacked.

"What's funny about humiliating a lovely old man who has never harmed anyone in his life?" she told The Sun newspaper, adding that Brand and Ross "should at least pay for what they've done with their jobs."

The row is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the BBC. In July it was fined ?400,000 after a string of shows faked winners of their competitions.

In another case senior BBC staff were suspended after a trailer for a BBC1 documentary wrongly implied that Queen Elizabeth II had stormed out of a sitting with top US photographer Annie Leibovitz.