A ban on swearing after the 21:00 watershed on the BBC could be introduced after a survey showed declining faith in the broadcaster’s moral standards.

The BBC will release its guidelines for public consultation later this year – the first time the public have been consulted on the corporation’s codes of practice – and is expecting to propose regulations prohibiting the use of offensive language between 21:00 and 22:00 other than in "exceptional circumstances".

The proposals would mean many swear words would be "bleeped" out in order to prevent offence even after 21:00.

The draft document also includes new guidelines on "intimidation, humiliation, intrusion and aggression", with new regulations governing prank phone calls expected in the wake of the scandal involving obscene voicemails left by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross.

Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, admitted that the "public feels a strong sense of frustration when the BBC fails to measure up to expectations, particularly when failure is self-inflicted".

He added: "We know many people want to see a tightening of editorial controls and we will be consulting widely on the new guidelines.

"But we must steer clear of putting too heavy a burden on programme makers so that they can still produce the risk-taking, innovative and challenging content the public expects."

The public consultation document asks viewers to comment on the corporation’s standards on impartiality, harm and offence and also asks whether "the guidelines on strong language are appropriate".

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