The BBC ranked the accent of people from one of Britain's biggest cities the 'most hated' in the country on a secret league table, a former war correspondent for the channel claimed. Kate Adie, a veteran of reporting from conflicts all over the globe, said accents were a "complex matter" for the UK and how someone speaks affects how they are received.

Ms Adie, who served as the BBC's Chief News Correspondent from 1989 until 2003, was speaking at the University of Sunderland where an archive of material from her career is being catalogued. The Telegraph reports the 79-year-old said: “Years and years ago, the BBC had an unofficial league table of the most liked and the most hated accents. The view was that some of them drove people nuts up and down the country.

The newspaper said that when Ms Adie invited her audience to guess which accent was least liked, a chorus of the same answer came in reply.

"Birmingham" the crowd reportedly answered in unison.

Continuing her speech, she added: “From one end of the country to another, it’s Birmingham! Michael Buerk, who comes from Birmingham, was once asked why he didn’t use the accent. He said:‘I didn’t want death threats’.”

Ms Adie, who is originally from the North East of England, said that the accent from her own home region was generally considered to be "well liked".

Express.co.uk have contacted the BBC for comment.

The iconic news reporter was speaking at the event at Sunderland University where an archive of more than 2,300 objects, "including dozens of notebooks, video clips, tapes, letters, and photographs" is held.

Speaking about her life’s work being documented in her home city, Adie said: “My life was shaped by my childhood in Sunderland, and I’ve wanted to show some of the very happy memories, starting at home in Tunstall Park and including two bomb fragments, embedded in our sideboard, which thankfully arrived two years before my appearance.

“A reporter does not usually have much time to collect souvenirs, so it’s an eclectic collection, but I hope it represents the extraordinarily varied stories I’ve covered, from wars to royal garden parties.”

The BBC has been contacted for comment.