It’s certainly a mistake to get on the wrong side of the feisty Shropshire Women’s Institute – as BBC presenter Rupert Maas found out.

The Antiques Roadshow expert bit off more than he could chew when he suggested on national television that Shropshire women had fat ankles.

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But he was made to eat his words by the formidable fighting force of the WI. There was no way they were going to let a TV art dealer call Shropshire women’s ankles fat and get away with it.

He outraged the county’s fairer sex by describing a figure in an impressionist painting as having a Shropshire ankle, meaning thick-set.

So the WI took the matter into their own hands and decided to make Mr Maas pay a visit to Shrewsbury to “atone” for his sins.

And by the end of the evening, hosted by the Frankwell Little Boro’ branch at the Darwin Community Centre last night, Mr Maas was forced to admit he was indeed impressed by the array of Shropshire ankles.

“I think their ankles are absolutely super,” he said.

Mr Maas said he was mystified by where the expression derived from but he had not made it up. He said: “Someone has written to me to say they have heard the expression, so there is one other person in the country.”

Mr Maas admitted he was feeling rather worried but he said he was pleasantly warmed by his welcome.His visit was part of a series being filmed by the BBC, with a working title called the Priceless Antiques Roadshow.

Mr Maas caused outrage in the county when he described a figure in an impressionist painting as having a Shropshire ankle.

The programme will be aired in March and will feature profiles of the experts.

Mr Maas said his visit was “suitable penance” for his comments. He even admitted blaming his mother for the words, who immediately rang him and said the expression hadn’t come from her.

He said: “I genuinely thought it was something in common language, but my mother said she had nothing to do with it and I cannot find where I read it.”

But Mr Maas said he was impressed with the ankles on display in the community centre and particularly with the highly decorative ankle of member Marilyn Chitty.

He said: “I have come here in winter time when most of the ankles are hidden, but upstairs I was given a small private viewing of a particularly trim ankle, I must say.

“It was a lovely evening. I was quite worried,” he added.

Carol Pagett, branch chairman, said she was quite sure all the members had forgiven Mr Maas after his lecture about art dealing.

She said: “I thought it was excellent and we were particularly lucky to get a speaker of this calibre. I think I forgive him and I think we all do.”