TV PERSONALITY Clare Balding OBE said walking down the aisle of Worcester Cathedral to receive her Honorary Degree was the “closest I’ll come to a royal wedding”.

The broadcaster had been invited two years ago by the University of Worcester (UoW) to receive the honour at the graduation ceremony and was delighted to finally be able to accept the offer on Wednesday.

“It’s been a long-time in the planning,” she said. “I am so thrilled that it was in the cathedral, it’s very special.

“I was just up here a couple of weeks ago speaking at King’s School, right next to the cathedral, and I had a little look but I didn’t fully take it in.”

Worcester’s University Arena was the first purpose-built facility for wheelchair athletes, and was the venue for the post-graduation party.

Ms Balding won the BAFTA Special Award and RTS Presenter of the Year Award for her coverage of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“It’s very impressive, and I’m assuming if Birmingham do get confirmed as Commonwealth Games hosts that it would get either a country wanting to make use of it or it’s almost close enough to be an actual arena for the games,” she said.

She went on to say: “Having worked on the Paralympic Games for as long as I have, I know what a difference purpose-built facilities with accessibility in mind can make.

“There are visible and invisible barriers; as far as I’m concerned, it takes more than words to break those down.

“You’ve got to be practical about it. You’ve got to build buildings that are fully accessible, that have equality at their heart.”

Ms Balding, who has presented five Paralympic Games, praised the impact of gold winning amputee Jonnie Peacock on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

“His mission is to prove that there is no such thing as disability,” she said. “We are all just differently-abled.

“You look at him and you know that millions of people watch that programme and he has taken that further step of not just what he can achieve in the sports field, which is extraordinary, but showing that translates into lots of other things,” she added.

As we reported yesterday, Animal Aid recently placed nearby Worcester Racecourse as in the five worst for horse safety in the UK, and called for fixed brush hurdles to be banned from the site.

A former horse racing TV presenter, Ms Balding said she was unaware of this and did not wish to comment on the matter when asked.

Animal Aid claims 48 horses have died from injuries sustained at the racecourse since 2007.