John Peel Awarded Prestigious Gong

Iconic radio presenter John Peel was last night awarded a prestigious posthumous award for his services to broadcasting.

He was awarded the Broadcasters' Broadcaster Award, voted for by his fellow presenters, at the annual Sony Radio Awards at the Grosvenor House hotel.

The special gong was created to mark the 25th anniversary of the awards.

His widow Shelia Ravenscroft accepted the award, saying: "I feel very emotional. I'm just really, really touched that everybody is still remembering him. It's amazing, it's really wonderful."

Peel, who died in October 2004, is widely recognised as the most influential DJ of his generation, kick-starting the careers of hundreds of bands including Blur, The Fall and The Undertones.

An annual country-wide day of live music, John Peel Day, was launched in October 2005, and the new bands stage at Glastonbury was renamed the John Peel Stage in 2005.