A city council has raised fears about local journalism being “under threat” amid planned cuts in the area they serve.

Oxford City Council has announced its opposition to the BBC’s plans to end television news bulletins in Oxford.

In a motion sent to chair of the BBC board Richard Sharp and director general Tim Davie, pictured, the councillors said that “cash-starved local newspapers and persistent BBC cuts” had already “hollowed out local radio and newspaper news coverage”.

The corporation revealed plans in May to end television news bulletins in Oxford and Cambridge, which will be merged with those from the main South Today and Look East studios respectively.

In its motion, the Labour-run authority said: “This council acknowledges the Conservative government has deliberately made the BBC’s funding position very challenging by freezing the licence fee but this plan will minimise coverage of Oxfordshire issues and lead to an unacceptable reduced regional news service on television at peak viewing times.

“The plan to present all the regional news programming from Southampton by creating a single edition of South Today with no segment committed to Oxford news serves no local resident well. With a much larger region to cover, all BBC South Today viewers will get less local coverage and Oxfordshire on the edge of the region is likely to miss out on a regular basis.

“The move comes at a time when local journalism is under threat, with cash-starved local newspapers and persistent BBC cuts already having hollowed out local radio and newspaper news coverage.”

The motion follows a similar letter from council, police and fire chiefs in Cambridge opposing the change in their city.

A BBC spokesperson told HTFP: “We understand the concerns but the BBC is making difficult choices in a fast changing media landscape.

“Audiences are seeking more and more content from our online and mobile services – and it’s vital our services adapt and evolve to keep pace with the communities we serve.

“That means striking a careful balance between broadcast and online delivery.

“Our commitment to everyone is to continue to deliver an outstanding service to Oxfordshire across TV, radio and online.”