Badge winners may be issued with ID cards to weed out auction cheats

The BBC may issue Blue Peter badge winners with an identity card in future to prevent the sale of badges at online auction sites.

The proposed identity card will include a picture of the badge winner and their details, and could be swiped at venues to gain access.

"Blue Peter is looking into different ideas and trying to find the best one, " a BBC spokeswoman said. "It has not yet been confirmed that that is the one we will use."

The BBC has cancelled its offer of free access for children to 200 UK venues following the auction sales.

However, the number of online auctions has increased following the publicity, and the BBC has openly criticised auction site eBay for allowing further sales to take place.