Archers role for designer Rhodes

Ms Rhodes founded London's Fashion and Textile Museum

Fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, known for her colourful hair and outrageous designs, is to play herself in BBC Radio 4's soap The Archers.

The 65-year-old will appear as a guest of honour at a charity fashion show in an episode broadcast on 22 September.

She is a fan of the show, which has previously featured Dame Judi Dench, Princess Margaret and Terry Wogan.

Programme director Rosemary Watt said it had been "a great pleasure" to work with "a truly iconic personality".

Ms Rhodes opened her own shop in west London in 1969 because her work was considered too bizarre to be sold by other fashion houses.

She also founded a Fashion and Textile Museum, which opened three years ago in south-east London.