Strike over job cuts plan forces BBC to change programming

THE BBC ditched some of its flagship news programmes yesterday as it was forced to drastically change its schedules because of the biggest strike against the corporation in over a decade in a bitter row over jobs.

Unions said last night that 15,000 journalists and technicians had joined the 24-hour walkout from BBC studios across Britain and were prepared to strike again for 48 hours from next Tuesday.

The BBC said 62% of its staff had worked, although the figure was as low as 29% among news employees.