76899-10A LITTLE piece of radio history has been found tucked away in Swindon. Tapes of BBC Radio 4's cult serial The Archers, dating back to 1977, have been discovered at BBC Radio Swindon.

Broadcast assistant Gerry Hughes stumbled across the reel-to-reel tapes while having a spring clean.

They had been gathering dust after being donated by Old Town listener Dr Barbara Carter, of Woodspring Court, six years ago.

The tapes consist of 28 omnibus editions.

Mr Hughes found them when he was clearing out the record library at the BBC.

Dr Carter said: "I had recorded the tapes for my mother, she was an addict of the show. In those days, after you had listened to what you recorded you didn't record over it because of the quality of the tapes and the technology was not like it is now.

Mr Hughes said: "It's such a find and a real treasure for us to have here.

"I acted on a gut feeling because I knew the London archive didn't have every episode. I hit a pot of gold.

"They will certainly fill gaps in the archive, which is important because the show has such a high profile."

More than four million listeners tune into The Archers each week, as they follow the lives of the residents of Ambridge.

Up until 1994, only selected episodes of the drama were saved.

"The tapes were on my bookcase but I needed the space for books.

"I am a genealogist so I know the value of old records, I'm not one who would throw out anything like that.

"I racked my brain as to who would want them and decided to contact the BBC."

Snippets of the original tapes were at last broadcast on BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Swindon breakfast shows this morning.

Dr Carter said: "I feel thrilled to bits. It's wonderful because I preserve anything for archives where I can and I would encourage anyone to do so."

Mr Hughes had taken the tapes off Dr Carter's hands with every intention of listening to them.

But they were put on a shelf and forgotten about. He said: "It's amazing. I must admit I'm not the tidiest of people but I can't believe that I hadn't spotted these tapes earlier.

Mr Hughes said: "The quirky thing is that I hold the Guinness World Record, which I got in 1999, for the longest running one-man radio drama and the Archers also has a world record for the longest running radio drama series.

"I listened to some of the tapes and they brought back memories of when I used to listen to the show."

The tapes have now been given to the BBC's Birmingham office, where the show, which began in 1951, is recorded.