Lynn Bowles leaves BBC Radio 2 - with a Land Rover

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-43589271

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Long-standing BBC Radio 2 travel presenter Lynn Bowles has left the network, with an honorary degree and a Land Rover from Chris Evans.

Bowles announced earlier this month she would be leaving the station after 18 years of providing traffic news for Evans, Ken Bruce and other presenters.

Listeners to Evans's show heard Bowles receive an honorary degree from Coventry University, her alma mater.

Her final BBC Radio 2 appearance was on Bruce's show later on Thursday.

Other gifts she received during Evans's breakfast programme included a cake shaped like a 4x4 poised on a rocky road made of chocolate.

Yet Evans topped that by presenting her with a set of keys to an actual Land Rover parked outside BBC Radio 2's Wogan House headquarters.

"The thing is Lynn, it was quite nice working with you," said Evans, telling her "the door was always open" to a future return.

There were more farewells later from Ken Bruce, who "said goodbye properly" to Bowles with an audio compilation of her "best bits".

"We're going to miss you terribly," said Bruce, who worked with Bowles for the full 18 years of her tenure.

The presenter tearfully signed off by saying she was "very very grateful to everyone I've worked with and to everyone who's listened".

Cardiff-born Bowles will continue to present her Sunday afternoon programme on BBC Radio Wales.

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