JOHN PEEL, the influential broadcaster who died last week, held talks with the British Library about leaving his extraordinary record collection to the nation, it emerged yesterday.

The tireless champion of new music, who helped many of the world’s biggest bands to find an audience, amassed hundreds of thousands of vinyl records, CDs and tapes from all over the world.

The unrivalled collection includes early recordings made by artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Smiths and Nirvana, along with obscure African acts. Worth millions of pounds if split up and sold to private collectors, it would be the largest and most significant collection deposited with the national Sound Archive at the British Library.

Andy Linehan, the archive’s curator for popular music, visited the Radio 1 DJ and Radio 4 presenter at his Suffolk home to scrutinise the collection, which Peel kept in a purpose-built extension. Mr Linehan said: “It’s a fantastic collection. The nature of the material that was sent to him was the kind of stuff that we couldn’t possibly get hold of.”

Peel’s will has yet to be published and his widow, Sheila, and other members of the family are still in Peru where he died of a heart attack last Monday during a working holiday. They are arranging the repatriation of his body and are expected back early this week.

Plans for his funeral have yet to be finalised, but he once said that the 1977 song Teenage Kicks by The Undertones should be played.

The Sound Archive, housed in the British Library’s building in King’s Cross, North London, consists of about 2.5 million recordings and relies on donations and acquisitions. There is no legal requirement to deposit material, unlike at the print library.

Peel’s Radio 1 show made the careers of a host of bands, including Blur and The White Stripes. He also presented Home Truths on Radio 4, which won four Sony Radio awards in 1999.

Clive Selwood, Peel’s manager, confirmed the discussions with the British Library. He said: “The idea certainly had favour with him, but we’ll just have to see what happens. It should stay in England, but I’ve got to try to look after the interests of the family. This was his great asset. He was never a great saver of money.”

Peel’s death at 65 prompted tributes from thousands of fans, as well as from artists whose careers he had launched. A BBC spokeswoman said: “We have had calls from all over the world in their hundreds and the BBC message board has received many, many more.”

A stage that features new bands at the Glastonbury Festival is to be renamed in his honour. Michael Eavis, the Somerset farmer who organises the festival, said: “It’s very appropriate because it’s all the sort of music that John would have chosen.”

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