BBC staff smell a rat at TV Centre

Having survived cuts to its budget and fended off criticism from the Murdochs, the BBC now faces a new threat – rats. Staff have complained about a plague of the creatures in the Radio 4 office in the increasingly rundown Television Centre. The Daily Mail's Richard Kay reports that one wag left a rubber rat next to John Humphrys's desk. Former Today editor Rod Liddle told the paper: "It was a far more civilised regime in my day – we just had mice, lice and fleas. Once, when I was on a train from Wiltshire to work, a flea actually hopped off me and on to the table in front of two other commuters. But rats are pretty heavy duty. I mean, you don't mess with a rat. I think they should set John Humphrys on them."