Peterborough City Council expresses concerns over BBC Look East merger

The merging of the western-area version of Look East with the Norwich-based broadcast is part of a raft of proposals outlined by the BBC for its local services

A council has unanimously passed a motion vowing to fight the BBC's plans to end its Cambridge-based version of the regional news programme Look East.

The BBC is proposing to merge the programme with the version broadcast from Norwich.

Peterborough City Council's Shaz Nawaz feared the city would become a "footnote" in the output.

The BBC said audiences were moving online and the city would be getting a "new dedicated digital service".

The corporation said last month its decision to end the Cambridge programme, which covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, was part of plans to "move decisively to a digital-first BBC to better deliver value for all audiences".

Currently separate editions of Look East are broadcast from Cambridge and Norwich at 18:30 and 22:30 from Monday to Friday.

The council's Labour group leader, Mr Nawaz, said Peterborough was "under-served by the BBC" and feared the city would become "a footnote on a show from Norwich".

Mr Nawaz presented his motion against the proposal at a meeting of the Conservative-led council, and said: "Peterborough is a key city in the east and having operations based in Norwich means vital and important local stories in Peterborough may be missed.

"Peterborough City Council expresses deep concern over the plans and believes that as a growing area our region requires more, not less, investment in local journalism."

The council agreed to write to the BBC's director general to "oppose these cuts to local and regional news".

A similar motion was passed last week by Milton Keynes Council, which also expressed concern about the proposal.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The media landscape is changing quickly and we need to make some difficult choices as we adapt our services in line with our audiences' expectations as they seek more and more content on our digital platforms.

"Despite the loss of the dedicated TV bulletin, we will continue to deliver outstanding television, radio and digital journalism across the East and South of England.

"This includes a new dedicated digital service for Peterborough."