The BBC will stop showing regional TV news bulletins during the BBC One Breakfast show from Monday next week.
The corporation said it needs to “adapt to the demands of covering Covid-19 and its effects on all our lives” in explaining the decision.
The change is said to be a temporary measure.
Breakfast, which airs from 6am to 9am on weekdays, carries a number of local news updates roughly every half hour that last a few minutes.
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The BBC will continue to provide weekday regional TV news bulletins at lunchtime, 6.30pm and 10.30pm.
It said these three bulletins had “seen a surge in viewing figures since the outbreak began”, reaching a combined 12.5m viewers on Wednesday.
Local news will still be available on BBC radio in the mornings and on the BBC News website.
Breakfast presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty (pictured) sat at either end of the red sofa this morning in line with Government social distancing measures to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
The BBC is running a “core news service” during the pandemic, with some programmes, such as Politics Live and the Victoria Derbyshire Show, having been taken off the air.
BBC director-general Tony Hall told staff on Wednesday that the news department would suspend plans to cut 450 jobs as part of a major newsroom restructure.
Picture: BBC
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