BBC staff set to strike over job cuts

BBC staff are set to take industrial action after it emerged today that bosses will axe 1,500 posts in the latest round of job cuts.

BBC governors are believed to have approved a second wave of job losses in news and other programmes to save about £200 million.

It follows last week's announcement that 1,730 jobs would be cut in the Professional Services division, with 980 staff made redundant and a further 750 outsourced to offices around Britain.

The latest move could prompt strike action. Broadcast union leaders will meet next week to decide their next move.

A formal announcement about the cuts will be made on Monday following the governors' meeting yesterday.

Sectors affected by the latest cull include news, sport, drama, children's programmes and new media. Other areas throughout the BBC are set to be hit over the next three years.

It is understood the BBC will tell unions it wants to achieve the cuts by voluntary redundancies. But some union officials believe the quota will be difficult to achieve without compulsory job cuts - which, they have already warned, would prompt them to ballot for industrial action.

Morale is at an all-time low after director-general Mark Thompson delivered news of the losses by video. The cuts represent close to a halving of the professional services workforce, many in London.

A union spokesman warned then: "Voluntary redundancies will be challenged by any means at our disposal, including industrial action."

BBC employees have already staged protests over the costcutting plans, described as "savage" by union leaders. The BBC claims the savings from the cuts will go into reinvesting in programmes as part a budget overhaul unveiled by Mr Thompson in December.

The cuts are expected to save £139 million per year, contributing to £355million cost savings overall. They amount to a £35 million increase on the £320 million budget savings the BBC announced last year.

Total redundancies could rise above 6,000 of the full 28,000 workforce over three years.

A BBC spokesman declined to comment about the latest job losses until staff had been fully briefed.