BBC One has been criticised for showing "too many repeats" on Bank Holiday Monday. The channel scheduled eight hours of repeats into 12 hours, according to the Daily Mirror.

The decision gave bad value for money to tax-paying viewers, said pressure group Mediawatch-UK. Director John Beyer said: "It is a shame the BBC can't do better for licence fee payers on a Bank Holiday.

"There has been talk of repeat-free zones, but this hasn't happened. One wonders where licence fee payers' money has gone. We're being sold short."

Don Foster, a Liberal Democrat MP and culture and media spokesman, added: "The number of repeats was up this Easter - and BBC1 was the worst offender."

The BBC said most of its shows over the whole day were new. ITV1 repeated four hours 55 minutes between 9am and 9pm while Channel 4 showed six hours.