Blue Peter dog Mabel retires from show

During her career Mabel has starred alongside 14 different presenters

Blue Peter dog Mabel - one of the show's longest-serving pets - is to retire after 14 years, programme bosses have announced.

The border collie cross - the first rescue dog to become a regular fixture on the BBC show - will make her final appearance on 30 March.

Presenters Andy Akinwolere, Helen Skelton and Joel Defries broke the news of her departure on Wednesday's show.

"With mixed emotions we are going to be saying goodbye to Mabel," said Defries.

"She'll be retiring at the end of the month and we're going to give her a massive, massive send off," he added.

Viewers of the show are being asked to send in poems, pictures and letters for Mabel, to mark her time on the show.

During her career Mabel has starred alongside 14 different presenters, starting with Katy Hill, Stuart Miles and Tim Vincent.

She first featured on the programme in January 1996 during a film item about the RSPCA and she officially joined the show a month later.

Her name was based on RSPCA inspector Mark Buggie's initials, who drove her to the studio.

Mabel, who is the second longest-serving dog on the CBBC show after Petra's 15-year appearance, will spend her retirement at home living with a former member of the production team.

"It will be a sad day for us all when we have to bid a fond farewell to our studio mate Mabel. We all wish her a very happy retirement," Skelton said.

"Mabel is a legend. She has spent 98 dog years working on Blue Peter and we will all miss her dearly," Defries added.