A British mother is threatening to sue the BBC after one of its radio announcers broadcast details of her teenage daughter's birthday party.

Hundreds of gatecrashers turned up at the family's historic 21-bedroom Georgian manor home in Devon and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage after hearing details of the party on Radio 1.

Birthday girl Sarah Ruscoe, 17, had expected about 300 people to attend her party, but about 2,000 ended up on her doorstep after one guest telephoned Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong and asked him to do a "shout-out" to anyone who wanted to join the celebrations.

When the uninvited guests turned up, paintings were soon torn from the walls, windows and mirrors smashed and chandeliers and doors damaged.

The four bouncers hired by Sarah's parents to police the party at their Bovey Tracey home had no chance of stopping the gatecrashers invading.

Sarah's mother Rebecca Brooks was furious, saying the ordeal had been "terrifying".

"I think it's totally negligent of the BBC to allow a statement like that to be broadcast," she told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper in Britain.

"There are so many kids around with nothing to do on a Friday night, so when they hear there's about to be a big party on the radio they're going to go."

Her husband Bill Brooks said some of the partygoers "were acting like animals".

"They were screaming and hollering and when someone broke something they cheered," he said.

"We tried to ask people to leave, but it was no use."

Police eventually broke up the party and blocked the driveway to the home to stop revellers returning.

A BBC spokesman said the DJ did not reveal the exact address of the party, but read out details of a "mansion party" taking place in Bovey Tracey which had been provided by a listener.

© 2008 AAP