They're off... but celebs call for return of radio race tips

Famous horse racing fans including Dame Jilly Cooper, Floella Benjamin, Michael Owen and Harry Redknapp have criticised the BBC for its decision to end the 50-year tradition of race tips on the Today programme.

- EMMA GUINNESS

The BBC announced last month that it was ditching the daily segment from Radio 4’s flagship show and would only offer tips on the biggest racing days. The move prompted a letter signed by several high-profile names, such as Labour peer Lord Donoughue and former defence secretary Ben Wallace, to urge the corporation to rethink its decision.

It argues the racing tips are an integral part of British radio culture and that the time freed up by their removal will only make space for football, adding: “We love football – of course we do – but do we need more?”

The letter reads: “It seems unnecessarily puritanical for the BBC to drop the racing tips from the Today programme after almost half a century. A part of the nation’s heart and history goes with them. If the Today programme is a national conversation, the BBC is choosing no longer to talk about an activity in which the UK excels, one that has brought us friends and investors from France, Ireland, the Middle East, Australia, Asia and the United States.