Moira Stuart lands Radio 2 role

Chris Evans starts his new job next week

Moira Stuart will read the news during the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, it has been announced.

Stuart left the BBC in 2007, amid accusations of ageism, after she was axed from BBC Breakfast and Andrew Marr's Sunday AM programme.

The 60-year-old said she was "delighted" with her new role and said she was hoping to have "some fun".

Evans, who begins the breakfast show next week, said: "It doesn't get any better than Moira Stuart."

He added: "The voice, the authority, the style, the class, plus a side of her the majority of people have never seen before.

"She's funny, she's cheeky and dare I say it - ever such a little bit naughty. Always brilliant on the telly, I predict she's going to be even better on the radio. In fact, I know she will be."

Stuart started her BBC career as a production assistant in Radio's Talks and Documentaries department in the 1970s.

From there she moved to BBC Radio 4 as a newsreader and presenter and became the UK's first black female newsreader.

BBC One's successful documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? featured Stuart in 2004 and she made a memorable appearance as herself in Extras in 2006.

In 2008 she became the face for HM Revenue and Customs' self-assessment advertising campaign.