Daytime Esther axed from BBC

Esther Rantzen's daytime show Esther on BBC2 is to end. The BBC said the seven-year-old show had come to a "natural end" and would not be recommissioned.

Rantzen said she was scaling down work commitments to spend more time with her family.

Her husband Desmond Wilcox died in 2000 and she has three children. Rantzen, 61, said: "I have really found it very difficult to have a life as well as work."

Esther has up to two million viewers with a mix of public debate and celebrity chat.