Countryfile's Miriam O’Reilly 'dropped by BBC in revenge'

Former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly was forced out of other shows as "payback", because she was believed to be behind stories criticising the BBC for dropping older women presenters, a tribunal heard today.

O' Reilly, 53, claimed her boss Andrew Thorman made sure she did not work on other programmes. At London Central tribunal, she is claiming age and sex discrimination against the BBC. O'Reilly denied she was now "embellishing" her evidence for the press and said she was deliberately humiliated when Radio 4's Costing The Earth, which she had presented for five years, offered her only one programme - about pensioners.

Work on File On Four also stopped. She said: "All I know is after 25 years at the BBC my work dried up within months with no good explanation. I had been told by two senior producers that it was mysterious and suspicious ... I believe Andrew Thorman used his influence and access to programme controllers to discredit me. I feel my work was withdrawn because they believed I had talked to the press."

The BBC denies the claims. O'Reilly and three other women presenters aged over 40 were dropped from Countryfile when it went prime-time in 2008.

The tribunal continues.