Blue Peter garden to be listed

Gardening enthusiasts will be glad to know that with the BBC upping sticks and leaving its Television Centre on Wood Lane, English Heritage has recommended that the core parts of the building, including the Blue Peter garden, be given grade-II listed building status.

Pressure on the government is growing to have the iconic garden listed and, if successful, the move would see the sunken Italian garden protected from development.

People across the nation were left disgusted in 1983 when vandals caused serious damage to the garden, wrecking plants and pouring oil into the pond.

Peter Beacham, heritage protection director for English Heritage, said: "We all feel we know areas such as the Blue Peter garden and the studios, where people have watched significant moments in broadcasting over the past 50 years.

"Blue Peter is an instance of a programme that has had a great influence on the way things here have developed – stuff that was done there at Television Centre affected the way Britain has been in the second half of the 20th century."

Another instance of a garden-related building becoming grade-II listed occurred in Horsham, Suffolk, when a garden shed in which Benjamin Britten composed some of his works including Phaedra and Death in Venice was protected.