Builders have accidentally unearthed a Blue Peter time capsule from 1998 containing mementos picked by viewers.

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The time capsule was buried 15ft underneath the Millennium Dome, now the O2 Arena, by hosts Richard Bacon and Katy Hill, and it wasn’t supposed to be dug up until 2050.

The contents of the capsule included a Blue Peter badge (of course), a Spice Girls CD, a Tellytubby, Tamagotchi toys and a photo of Princess Diana – literally the most 90s collection of items you could think of.

A source told The Sun: “Nobody realised it was the Blue Peter capsule. The boys thought they’d struck gold.

"They were going at it with anything they could find — hammers, shovels, the lot.

“At one point a bloke in a forklift squished it with the machine’s teeth.”

The capsule also contained stamps, coins, a World Cup football, a Roald Dahl book and an insulin pen.

Katy Hill, now a Heart Radio DJ, couldn’t believe it had been unearthed 33 years early.

But she’s happy it’s going to be reburied.

Richard Bacon, who is now working on US TV, said: “It is amazing how VHS players and CDs are already part of history.”

The capsule had been dumped in a skip before its significance was realised and it was handed to O2 chiefs in Greenwich, East London.

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The BBC said: “We are looking forward to sharing these memories with viewers and making new ones as we rebury the capsule until 2050.”

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