Former presenters of BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight programme are urging the corporation to reconsider the “seriously damaging” decision to merge the programme with the World Service’s Newshour in an effort to save money.

The changes will result in a single team and presenter producing the two programmes, as the BBC grapples over the future of its radio output amid another round of budget cuts.

Seven former hosts of the late-night news programme, including Robin Lustig and Claire Bolderson, have written to the Guardian to object to the corporation’s proposal to merge the show with its sister World Service programme. They say it will leave British licence fee payers with a “largely reheated” programme designed for overseas listeners.

Newshour broadcasts twice a day at 2pm and 9pm on the World Service. Under the proposals the same presenter will host both shows, launching straight into The World Tonight at 10pm.

“At a time when British politics are dominated overwhelmingly by foreign policy issues, it seems woefully misguided of the BBC to be planning to introduce seriously damaging changes to its sole news programme with an unashamed foreign policy agenda,” said the former hosts of the show.

They said The World Tonight served “an entirely different audience” of British listeners and the decision to merge the teams would mean a poorer quality show for licence fee payers.

“The World Tonight is broadcast directly after Newshour, which means inevitably that Radio 4 listeners will be served a programme with a largely reheated agenda created for foreign audiences. To reduce the programme’s UK coverage to a bare minimum would severely short-change the very listeners to whom it is meant to appeal, and seriously curtail the programme’s ability to cover late-breaking UK political stories.”

The BBC said it was undergoing a consultation to discuss combining the teams, adding: “The World Tonight would continue to cover UK news. The programmes already share a great deal of material and interviews, a combined team would bring together the best of our international and UK news expertise as well as helping to make savings across BBC News.”

Radio 4 is advertising for a controller to replace Gwyneth Williams, who is leaving the station after eight years in charge. Senior programme-makers fear the new boss will be forced to make substantial financial cuts, with money siphoned to fund the expansion of BBC Sounds, the corporation’s latest attempt to attract younger audiences by combining all of its radio, podcast, and music output in one place.

BBC names speculated to be linked to the job include the corporation’s head of current affairs, Jo Carr, and Mohit Bakaya, Radio 4’s factual commissioning editor. The new boss will also face up to the challenge of reshaping the Today programme after the departure of John Humphrys. He is not expected to be replaced, with the remaining four presenters instead taking on extra shifts.