MP questions BBC's £1m Olympic plans

An MP has questioned the efficiency of the BBC's plans to send at least 150 staff to cover the Beijing Olympic Games.

The operation will reportedly cost about £1m, which some have suggested is too much at a time when the corporation is planning 2,500 job cuts.

The BBC has said 380 staff were involved in covering the 2004 games in Athens.

"We are putting on 2,750 hours of Olympic coverage," said a spokesman. "We are broadcasting on radio, on TV, online and on interactive. It is the only way people will view the Olympics."

However, Tory John Whittingdale MP, the chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said: "The BBC always sends a huge number of journalists to such events and it raises the issue of efficiency."