'River City' axe speculation denied by BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland has refuted rumours that drama River City is being axed.

Director Ken MacQuarrie promised that the Glasgow-set soap would continue during a question and answer session involving BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten.

"We have no plans to cut River City, I can make that absolutely clear," BBC News quotes MacQuarrie as saying.

Meanwhile, Lord Patten branded the River City speculation as "far-fetched". He declared: "I very much hope that we'll see more dramas being made in Scotland.

"I couldn't have spent any time looking at the papers without realising that River City is extremely popular and the BBC should be very pleased it makes programmes as popular as that.

"I am sure people will have noticed the reaction to some of the slightly far-fetched suggestions about what might happen to it."

> Read our River City spoilers
> Lord Patten: 'BBC is a moral force'