Little Britain became a TV hit after making its debut on radio

Little Britain first aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2001 before transferring to TV.

BBC radio entertainment editor John Pidgeon told The Guardian: "The one thing that does irritate people in radio is when they don't get credit."

However, BBC Three head Stuart Murphy said his comments had been misquoted by London's Evening Standard newspaper.

TV adaptation

Mr Murphy was quoted as saying: "We came up with Little Britain," in an interview with the Evening Standard earlier this month.

"No you didn't. We came up with Little Britain and passed it on to you," Mr Pidgeon responded in The Guardian.

Mr Murphy was responsible for commissioning the first Little Britain TV series on BBC Three in 2003, based on creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams' radio series of the same name.

Stuart Murphy commissioned the first TV series of Little Britain

The Bafta-award winning TV series subsequently moved to BBC One last year, following previous TV adaptations of BBC Radio 4 comedy series such as Goodness Gracious Me and Dead Ringers.

Radio head Mr Pidgeon added: "It doesn't bother me when people leave radio for telly, because I know that the talent respect us - Matt and David know how it started."

However, Mr Murphy's spokesman said quotes were wrongly attributed to him by the Evening Standard.