News anchor Fiona Bruce was rushed to the BBC’s Millbank studios in a police car to present the 6pm bulletin after a technical issue downed live broadcasts at the BBC’s main studios in central London.
The BBC’s home editor, Mark Easton, tweeted a picture of him with Bruce in a taxi at 5.20pm this afternoon on their way to the Westminster studios, but warned the traffic was “dreadful”.
In a second tweet 14 minutes later, a picture on Easton’s account showed Bruce sat in the front of a police car being “escorted through” a demo taking place on the streets of London.
Millbank studios, home to Politics Live, is the disaster recovery set for the news bulletins if the main studio at Broadcasting House in Marylebone (three miles from Millbank) is out of action, Press Gazette understands.
Earlier today the BBC News Channel was forced to broadcast pre-recorded news content from 3pm to 4pm after a problem with the Open Media production system, which replaced the ENPS system last year.
Open Media is used by a number of other European broadcasters, according to Radio Today.
The BBC said in a statement: “We’ve had technical problems at our HQ this afternoon and will be broadcasting the BBC News at Six from our Millbank studio. Engineers are working hard to resolve the issue fully.”
It’s not clear if the News At Ten will also broadcast from Millbank. The BBC News website is not affected.
Picture: BBC
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