BBC Scotland last night apologised after missing the moment of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games victory.

The broadcaster was still showing cheering schoolchildren in Scotland when the big announcement was made in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Directors cut to a live feed from the announcement venue only in time to see First Minister Alex Salmond and other Scots delegates celebrating.

Other TV stations and BBC Radio Scotland all managed to catch the actual announcement, although none had as many outside broadcast cameras covering the story as the corporation.

Yesterday's blunder came in a special live edition of Reporting Scotland to cover the announcement. The BBC feed was being transmitted to official venues and schools across Scotland, where guests and crowds of children were waiting to hear whether Glasgow had won. The delay caused confusion before crowds jumped for joy.

A BBC spokesman said: "We apologise for the fact we were a couple of seconds late, but we had the full celebration as soon as it happened and all the excitement, both at home and in Sri Lanka. We only had a few seconds' warning."

One viewer, Jim Reside on Arran, said he feared the same director might put in charge of covering the event's 100m race, the fastest in world sport.

Mr Reside said: "Bearing in mind that despite Glasgow's two-year preparation for the 2014 vote, the actual moment apparently caught them asleep at BBC HQ at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, it would seem to be relatively easy to miss the Blue Riband event in 2014. It only lasts 10 seconds."

Ironically, the BBC helped win the bid by backing Glasgow's slick video presentations. The broadcaster is an official bid supporter and is likely to play a large part in broadcasting the Glasgow Games.

The embarrassing glitch was the latest to hit the corporation north of the border since it moved to its new state-of-the-art multimillion-pound headquarters at Pacific Quay, not least when guests celebrating the opening of its new building drowned out an evening TV news bulletin.