A Lords parliamentary committee on the future of the BBC has told the corporation that it should work with ITV to develop a ‘hub’ in Manchester.

"The BBC and its commercial competitors should not be obsessed with competing with each other and instead should work together to maximise public value. The new Manchester hub would facilitate this," they said.

Charles Allen, chief exec at ITV, has told the committee that the broadcaster has been in talks with the BBC over such sharing, though nothing has yet been agreed.

The BBC hope to move some of their operations to Manchester but have suggested that, without an increase in the license fee, such a move would be difficult.

Lord Fowler, chair of the committee, said he doesn’t think such an increase can be justified.

Money could be saved by collaborating, say the Lords: "We recommend that the BBC, ITV and independent production companies should work together to create shared centres of regional excellence."