This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The BBC's director general, Tony Hall, has called on the Greek government to reopen the state broadcaster immediately condemning its sudden closure as "undemocratic and unprofessional".

In a petition to the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, the directors general of 50 European TV and radio broadcasters including the BBC urged him to see sense pointing out that "public service media and their independence from government lie at the heart of democratic societies".

The other signatories included the heads of German, French, Swiss, Danish, Spanish and Italian TV.

The intervention piles on the pressure on Samaras who was urged by the staff at the station not to send in the police to clear out the journalists who have been occupying the ERT headquarters for the third day running.

The petition was organised by the European Broadcasting Union which has been at the vanguard of attempts to persuade the Greeks to reverse their decision to close down ERT's TV and radio stations on Tuesday night.

Defiant staff have kept one channel, the news service NET, alive on the internet. The EBU today stepped in to make sure it was broadcast to viewers in Greece and across the globe by retransmitting it by three satellites.

The EBU also called on the president of the EU, José Manuel Barroso to intervene in the crisis that is threatening to topple the new Greek government.