BBC want Tarrant for Radio 2

BBC chiefs are secretly trying to poach Chris Tarrant from Capital Radio to replace 80-year-old Sir Jimmy Young, who is being forced to quit his show after 28 years.

Tarrant, 56, who earns £3.5million a year from his radio Breakfast Show and TV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has been the target of a sustained headhunting campaign by the BBC, which sees him as the ideal candidate to take on Sir Jimmy's Radio 2 show.

Sources say BBC chiefs have called Tarrant's agent seven times with six-figure salary offers which are thought to be more than any radio DJ has ever been paid at the Corporation.

They want him to start as soon as he can be freed from his contract with Capital - on 31 December this year.

But they are having to weight their offer to make up for millions that Tarrant will lose from Capital share options for leaving on that date - a year before his contract is up. Capital have an option to keep Tarrant on for another year. If he refuses to let them take that option, he will lose the millions in shares given to him as part of a pay deal two years ago. A source close to Tarrant said: "If he goes, he will jump the fence for a colossal amount of money."

It was announced yesterday that Sir Jimmy is to quit his lunchtime show at the end of the year. He will move to a weekend show in 2003.