Blue Peter time capsule accidentally DUG UP 33 years early and smashed by builders

Former presenters Richard Bacon, 41, and Katy Hill, 45, buried the millennium time capsule back in 1998 15 feet under what was then the Millennium Dome, and it wasn’t supposed to be unearthed until  2050.

Builders are said to have hit the capsule whilst working laying cables in what is now The O2 arena site, The Sun reports.

“Nobody realised it was the Blue Peter capsule. The boys thought they’d struck gold,” a source said.

The builders reportedly proceeded to try to break through the capsule: “They were going at it with anything they could find – hammers, shovels, the lot.

“At one point a bloke in a forklift squished it with the machine’ teeth.”

The time capsule contains memorabilia chosen by Blue Peter viewers, including a Tellytubby and Tamagotchy, a France 1998 World Cup football, a Spice Girls CD, a photo of Princess Diana and a famous Blue Peter badge.

The capsule is said to have been thrown into a skip before builders realised what it was and it was handed over to O2 bosses.

Katy now co-hosts Heart Breakfast on Heart Radio along with former Blue Peter presenter Stuart Miles.

She shared a throwback picture on Twitter of herself and Richard burying the capsule 19 years ago, with the caption: “#TBT to the #BluePeter Time Capsule I buried at @TheO2 w @richardpbacon for 2050 – except builders JUST dug it up!”

The BBC are reportedly planning to rebury the time capsule to be dig up as intended in 2050.

A spokesperson told express.co.uk: “Although a little earlier than anticipated, we’re looking forward to sharing these memories with our viewers and making new ones as we return the capsule to the earth so that it can be reopened in 2050 as originally planned.”

Blue Peter have a bit of a time capsule tradition, with former presenters Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes burying the first in 1971.

It contained pictures of the presenters and a Blue Peter annual and was dug up in 1991, but not before that too was unearthed early and reburied when its original site went into development.