Dylan devastated at BBC Wombles gaffe

A father-of-four today said his son had been left devastated after a BBC slip up led to a musician in a Womble suit removing its head during a live broadcast.

Peter McFarland, 34, from Harlescott, in Shrewsbury, said his six-year-old son Dylan was 'horrified' after the blunder during a live video stream of the Wombles on Radio 2's Drivetime show, hosted by Simon Mayo.

After singing Christmas number one contender Wombling Merry Christmas, lead Womble Orinoco took off his head to reveal songwriter Mike Batt, leaving children shocked that the Wombles were not real.

Mr McFarland said Womble fan Dylan was 'crushed' by the revelation.

He said: "I have been reading him the books and he is absolutely besotted with the Wombles. We follow them on twitter to see where they are going to be. We tuned into the webcam event because it was the next best thing to seeing them live."

But the error in the broadcast left little Dylan heartbroken.

Artist Mr McFarland added: "He was horrified and ever since he has been very quiet. It has ruined the magic for him right before Christmas."

He said his wife Vickie promptly complained to the BBC and Mr McFarland said they had since received an apology.

Following the error Mr Batt, 62, apologised on twitter.

Since then, Mr Batt has written a blog.

He wrote: "I can assure the Wombles are very real indeed and did a splendid job on the show.

"Before their first song, Wombling Merry Christmas, and just after it, Simon interviewed Orinoco – but after the song Orinoco sounded completely puffed out and many people suggested to me – as their manager – that the show should be stopped and Orinoco given medical treatment.

"However, it was too late for the show to be stopped when Orinoco launched straight into 'Underground Overground' and we management-team-humans were very worried that he might hurt himself or have a heart problem.

"Luckily, I carry a fancy dress Womble costume with me to all Womble appearances, so if the real Orinoco is too puffed out I can run in, like a substitute in a football match and take over."