BBC Television Centre homes and hotel plan approved

The former BBC Television Centre is to be transformed into more than 1,000 homes and a hotel after plans to redevelop it were approved.

The Grade II listed central ring and the main studio will be preserved under proposals passed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

Developers Stanhope said work on the site in White City, west London, would create 2,700 jobs.

It opened in 1960 and shut in March when the BBC moved to central London.

Programmes recorded there include Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Strictly Come Dancing, Blue Peter and earlier series of Doctor Who.

The development will see four television studios, the centre's restaurant, drama blocks and connected buildings replaced.

The plans will see one storey added to the top of Television Centre and two under it, with the facade of the building being retained and restored.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Mark Loveday said the building "holds a special place in many people's hearts".

"By approving these plans, we have immortalised the key elements of this iconic building for the nation," he said.