Jeremy Paxman digs for victory at the Tank Museum

As one of the country’s most consistently unimpressed men, Jeremy Paxman is a figure rarely associated with grand statements.

But during a trip to The Tank Museum, where he was filming a World War I documentary, the Newsnight interrogator pitched the first fork in a major new development at the Bovington centre, allowing a series of developments including a 40,000 square foot building which will accommodate 120 vehicles.

The Vehicle Conservation Centre, which won £2.5 million last year, will look after its tanks in a carefully regulated environment.

The construction is the responsibility of Dawnus Construction, of Exeter, and is expected to be open to the public in autumn 2013.