Former BBC television presenter Miriam O'Reilly has won her ageism case against the broadcaster, which dropped her from its Countryfile series after the programme moved to prime time.

The 53-year-old alleged she had been dismissed from the show on account of her age to be replaced with younger stars, but lost her sex discrimination claim. She said after the judgment that she had endured "an incredibly stressful 14 months".

Anti-ageism campaigners welcomed the announcement, with former government advisor Dame Joan Bakewell telling the news provider that it was a "landmark decision" which highlighted the issue.

"We can't afford to have people living for 30 years on a pension in retirement, we have to have a culture in which older people work on a par with younger people," she explained.

Hollywood star Harrison Ford claimed in a Press Association interview earlier this week that many older male actors also struggle to obtain prominent roles in film and TV productions.

Posted by Hayley Edwards