Last-ditch talks in row over BBC job cuts

BBC bosses and unions have agreed to hold lastditch talks on job cuts to avert further strike action.

Both sides will meet for an emergency summit on Thursday at conciliation service Acas - but unions have not cancelled next week's 48-hour strike.

Negotiations will go ahead despite BBC director general Mark Thompson today refusing to back down over the scale of his planned 4,000 job cuts.

Gerry Morrissey, assistant general secretary of Bectu, said: "We are not prepared to cancel next week's strikes until we see more detail of what the BBC may or may not be prepared to offer us."