BBC scoops Alistair Cooke

LONDON, March 3 (UPI) -- British broadcaster Alistair Cooke is angry at the BBC, which jumped the gun and broke news of his retirement after nearly 60 years.

The New York-based Cooke, 95, had planned to announce his departure in his last "Letter from America."

"I'm absolutely appalled," Cooke told the Times of London. "I don't know who is the villain of the piece but I have my suspicions. I'm furious."

In response, a BBC spokeswoman said: "The original plan was to do it (the announcement) on Friday, but with a figure of Alistair's legendary standing it was just inevitable that news got out early, so we followed that up with early release."

The news broke Tuesday.

Cooke fashions his broadcast reports from an apartment in a New York high-rise overlooking Central Park. He told the Times of London that his age has caught up with him, and what used to take just two hours now consumes three days.