PC fixture for Bob the Builder

Bob the Builder is to introduce its first politically correct characters - a black father and daughter.

The children's show is to feature student Molly, who is into green issues, and her father, JJ, who runs a building merchant's yard.

The pair are the first characters from an ethnic minority to be in the programme as well as the first new faces on the BBC show since it began three years ago.

Producer Jackie Cockle said: "A pre-school show should reflect issues in the world. We always heard Bob talking about heading off to the building suppliers but never actually saw it before."

Molly is not the first female handyworker in the show. Wendy, a bricklayer, has been in since the start, although women account for only one per cent of Britain's builders. Only two-and-a-half per cent are from ethnic minorities.

Molly and JJ will appear in the sixth series of the show, which will be broadcast in September. Appearing for the first time will be Bob's parents.

His father Robert will be voiced by Richard Briers, 68, and his mother Dot's by June Whitfield, 76.