Bungling builders dig up Blue Peter time capsule meant to be opened in 2050

Builders who accidentally dug up a Blue Peter time capsule ended up smashing it to bits – 33 years too early.

The container, which was housing items like a Spice Girls CD, a Telly Tubby and a set of stamps was buried underneath the Millennium Dome in 1998.

It was intended to be dug up and opened again in 2050 but the builders, who were laying cables beneath what is now the O2 Arena, broke it open after they found it.

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A source told The Sun: “Nobody realised it was the Blue Peter capsule. The boys thought they’d struck gold.

“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’s teeth.”

Blue Peter presenters Richard Bacon and Katy Hill buried the capsule 19 years ago and despite its recent destruction, the BBC are planning on re-burying it.

A spokesman said: “We are looking forward to sharing these memories with viewers and making new ones as we rebury the capsule until 2050.”

Katy posted on Facebook about the find, writing: “To ’98 & burying a Time Capsule at London’s 02 – it was due to be dug up in 2050. Ah – the magic! *NEEDLE SCRATCH* A BUILDER JUST DUG IT UP. Shhhhh… ‘Nothing to see here kids – as you were’!”

The items inside the Blue Peter time capsule:

Stamps
France ’98 World Cup football
Roald Dahl book
Photo of a dove of peace
Rollerblade wheel
Photos of Alton Towers
Letter written by a grandfather
Insulin pen
Video of country walks
Toy car
Asthma inhaler
Cub Scout’s scarf and woggle
Set of British coins
Telly Tubby
Tamagotchi
Photo of Princess Diana
Spice Girls CD
Blue Peter Badge

Top pic: Rex