NRegan

Last updated 00:00, Friday, 30 November 2007

BOSSES at television watchdog Ofcom are to open talks about the future of Border TV following pressure from Cumbrian and Scottish MPs.

A group of politicians will travel to London in the new year to air their concerns about ITV’s plans to axe the flagship local news programme Lookaround.

Bosses want to do away with the 30-minute nightly bulletin and replace it with a regional show compiled by the Tyne Tees network in Newcastle.

MPs, including Carlisle’s Eric Martlew, believe it would result in an inferior service and the loss of part of the region’s identity.

The meeting with Ofcom will be the first chance they have had to put their views directly to the watchdog, which has the power to stop the plan.

Meanwhile, Cumbria County Council this week put its weight behind the campaign to save Border – and is also fighting to stop proposed cuts at Radio Cumbria.

The BBC is cutting at least two jobs at Radio Cumbria and getting rid of the BBC bus.

Last week, councillors unanimously backed a motion criticising the changes.

It said: “The ITV network are proposing changes which could see a considerable reduction in coverage of local issues and the loss of high-value jobs. The BBC are proposing cuts which could cost jobs and the loss of the popular Radio Cumbria bus.”

Council leader Tim Stoddard said: “We urge a rethink on these proposals.”

Thousands of BBC workers are to be balloted on strike action in a row over jobs by the National Union of Journalists and the broadcasting workers’ union Bectu.

Journalists and broadcasting workers at the corporation will vote over the next few weeks on whether to take industrial action.

The result of the ballot will be known in early January.