The BBC World Service will close its Romanian language offering on August 1 after 68 years on the air.

The closure, which will save £1.3m per year, comes as part of a long-term plan to redirect money into the BBC Arabic and to-be-launched BBC Persian television services.

BBC Romanian broadcasts for approximately four hours per day on radio, but attracts only 3% of the local radio market in the country after FM network partner stations dropped the BBC's content after a series of mergers.

"Like the other European services we closed three years ago, BBC Romanian had its roots in the Second World War," said BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman. "It has served its audiences with distinction through the Communist era to the present day.

"The contribution of all BBC Romanian staff has been immense: serving Romanians with innovation and commitment for 68 years. The quality of the current output is of the highest standard.

"But Europe has changed, fundamentally, since the early nineties; and with the rapidly declining audiences in Romania we can no longer justify continuing the service.

"It is widely acknowledged that BBC Romanian's presence has contributed to the building of freedoms now enjoyed by Romania's citizens. We believe this will be a lasting legacy."

46 staff will be affected by the closure.