The BBC has faced criticism from Labour MPs after it moved this week’s episode of Question Time from Bolton to a private school in London at the last minute.

The show had been due to be filmed at the Albert Halls in the north-west town but was switched to Dulwich in south London to make it easier for panellists based in the capital to take part.

Lisa Nandy and Rachel Reeves have written to the BBC director general, Tony Hall, to complain about the decision, arguing it reflects a capital-centric outlook in the corporation’s output, and said it deprived non-Londoners of a voice at a crucial moment in the Brexit debate.

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“We find it inexplicable that the event did not take place in Bolton as intended,” the MPs wrote. “Dulwich and West Norwood voted more than 70% to remain while the Bolton constituencies voted almost 60% to leave. Given that the panellists were largely from London, we think the nation might have benefited from some non London-centric views on the programming.”

The BBC has said the decision to switch venues was made to “allow attendance from panellists who might otherwise not be able to travel to the north-west due to unfolding Brexit developments and commitments in Westminster”, and the show intended to return to Bolton in the future.

The MPs also objected to the decision to hold the last-minute event at James Allen’s girls’ school in Dulwich, which charges fees of more than £15,000 a year, arguing that schools such as this already host a large number of prestigious events. The school hosted an episode of Question Time as recently as last November and was used as the venue for a series of auditions to choose the show’s new presenter, which resulted in Fiona Bruce winning the job.

The MPs have asked the BBC to provide a breakdown of how many episodes of Question Time are filmed at state schools and how many take place at private schools, in addition to statistics on the number of programmes broadcast from London.

“Question Time is an important part of our national political debate and one of the few national programmes that allows any voice for people outside of London,” they said. “With very little respect for, or understanding, of what is happening to our country outside of London in the national debate, this decision has caused real anger in our constituencies and in many parts of the country.”

The BBC said the decision was made early in the week to ensure that panellists, who included the Labour MP David Lammy and the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, would be available to appear on the show in the event of any last-minute Brexit votes in parliament.

“If there had been voting on Thursday, politicians would not have been able to get to Bolton,” a BBC spokesperson said.