Vanessa Feltz 'bullied work experience girl'

Vanessa Feltz has been accused of bullying a student who was doing work experience on her BBC London show.

Beverley Nesbit, 19, claims that she was reduced to tears after a series of incidents involving the presenter in July. She secured the post after winning a £120 bid arranged by Feltz's daughter Saskia Kurer at a university charity event.

"I basically paid to be abused by Vanessa Feltz for a week," she told the Daily Mail. "Vanessa was really brash, not like the bubbly person you see on television, but in a rude and arrogant way. She barely acknowledged me, and when she did she said everything I had done was rubbish."

Recalling one incident, Nesbit said: "Vanessa turned to me and said, 'Beverley, which is your favourite poem by Yeats?' I'm not a stupid person, but I was honest and told her I'd never heard of Yeats and didn't have a favourite. She was really rude and said something like, 'That's ridiculous, write me a 2,000 word essay on Yeats by tomorrow'. I thought she was joking."

Feltz apparently requested the essay the following day. "I had to admit I hadn’t done it," Nesbit added. "I couldn't believe it. In the end I went to the toilet and just cried. I just wanted to go home. I couldn't believe how rude and horrible she had been. In the end a producer came and asked me if I was okay."

Feltz didn't respond to the paper's requests for a comment. A BBC spokesman said: "This was a private visit arranged by Vanessa and not part of the BBC work experience scheme."