BBC newsreader used bulldog clips to hold her dress together after wardrobe malfunction during broadcast

'Never in a million years did I imagine it would burst open,' said Liz Beacon

(BBC/SWNS)

A BBC newsreader has revealed she had to use a number of bulldog clips and gaffer tape to hold her dress together after it split shortly before going on air.

Liz Beacon, 43, the anchor for Points West (the regional bulletin for the west of England), says the incident happened when she was drafted in at the last minute to present the evening news.

Ms Beacon rushed home to grab an unworn Zara dress and went to the studio – but as she was preparing for broadcast the zip broke, leaving the dress gaping down her back.

Without time to change, her colleagues and crew members pulled the dress together using metal bulldog clips and black gaffer tape, which held for the duration of the 30-minute slot.

Ms Beacon said: “I hadn’t worn the dress before and it was a bit sticky when I did the zip up, but I just thought that was because the dress is quite a tight style anyway.

The back of Beacon's dress (BBC/SWNS)

“Never in a million years did I imagine it would burst open half an hour later!”

Ms Beacon said she had to ask her director to take a look. “When she saw it, she gasped and said ‘Quick, get me some clips and some gaffer tape’.

“There were three people helping me in the end, with fellow presenter David Garmston next to me trying to keep me calm.”

The dress was a birthday gift from Ms Beacon’s mother given to her in December.

Ms Beacon said although there is a dressing room available, she doesn’t store additional dresses at work so had nothing to change into – although vows she will bring a back up in future.

“I was still fiddling with it, reaching behind me, trying to make sure the tape was stuck down, as we went on air,” she says. “I couldn’t relax the entire programme, which is most unlike me!

“I kept feeling it move, and was completely paranoid that it would ping open again.”

She has since spoken to Zara regarding the incident and is liaising with their customer services with the hope of organising a replacement.