Security stepped up after threats to Sue

The BBC radically stepped up security around presenter Sue Barker last night after she received death threats at her home.

The former tennis star has admitted to being traumatised by letters telling her she will be 'the next Jill Dando'.

In response her bosses have said they will provide her with 'any security she wants'.

In addition to basic measures including upgrading locks and alarms, it is understood her employer would provide her with a bodyguard when travelling to and from home.

They have also offered to pay for 47-year-old Miss Barker to stay in a hotel until the danger is believed to have passed.

A BBC insider added: 'All her mail and telephone calls to the office, and all her e-mails, are being monitored by an IT department.'

Eddie Halling, former Detective Chief Superintendent with Bedfordshire police, is heading the security operation for the BBC. He has been asked to make a 'threat-level' assessment and has been liaising with police in Surrey.

A police source said: 'Her home will be fitted with a panic alarm - linked to a police station - and extra CCTV cameras are likely to be fitted around the property.

'She has been given a lecture by police and BBC security people about basic anti- surveillance techniques, and warned not to open the door to strangers. Forensic tests are being carried out on the letters to see if there are any matches to the DNA database.

Miss Barker, who fronts A Question of Sport, told the Mail last night: 'The BBC have been terrific. They have offered me whatever I want but I haven't thought it through yet - I am waiting to hear from the police.'

The letters were sent to the BBC in West London before being innocently forwarded to the star's £2million Surrey mansion, set in 32 acres near Godalming. It's already guarded by three Rottweilers.

The letters come five years after Crimewatch presenter Miss Dando, 37, was shot dead outside her West London home. When police were investigating Barry George, the man subsequently convicted of her murder, they found photographs of several blonde TV presenters in his flat. As well as being blonde and employed by the BBC, Miss Barker was brought up in the West Country like Miss Dando and both have been close friends of Sir Cliff Richard. One of the letters is said to have read: 'It is time for another murder like Jill Dando's. You will be stalked, then murdered like she was.'

Miss Barker, whose husband Lance Tankard is a former police officer, said: 'This has been particularly upsetting because Jill was a close friend. But my husband has been very supportive, as have my colleagues at the BBC.

'I can't imagine why anybody would have done this. The letters are a worry but I plan to continue working as normal. I will be covering the London Marathon and the Grand National and continue to work on Grandstand.'