John Humphrys surprises listeners with own 'grime rap' on Radio 4

The Radio 4 presenter introduces 'Thought For the Day' in the style of Dizzee Rascal

Famously tough interviewer John Humphrys burst into his own version of "grime rap" in a sudden departure from his usually serious tones on Radio 4 today.

The BBC presenter was rounding up a discussion on the underrepresentation of black young men and grime music in the Brit awards 2016, when he performed his own ad lib rap on the end of a song.

"And now we is now going to have Thought For The Day done in that way", he said into the microphone, to the apparent bemusement of his co-presenter Justin Webb.

The Radio 4 presenter tapped out the beat of the tune before adding his own improvisation (BCC/Twitter)

"That was John with his own personal Brits entry. You may or may not think it will do the job," said Mr Webb by way of explanation.

Twitter reacted immediately to the attempt by the political commentator to mimic artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Lethal Bizzle.

Dawn said on Twitter that "rap" might be going a little too far: "It was more him affecting an accent that was a cross between Ali G and a robot."

The award-winning Today presenter, who during his career has also received criticism for "misguided" and abrasive comments, did not receive an overwhelming number of plaudits for his improvisation.

Yet while some were bewildered, other Twitter users were willing to praise his bravery.

And some appeared to rate the quality of Mr Humphry's musical oevre and were also concerned the attempt might be misunderstood.

Mr Humphrys joined the BBC in 1966 as a district reporter, and after a stint as a foreign correspondent later became the presenter of the BBC's flagship Nine O'Clock News in 1981.

In 1987 he accepted the role of presenter of the Today programme on Radio 4.