The BBC is again at the centre of controversy after a leaked internal email revealed that the corporation's bosses are searching for a new reporter from an "ethnically diverse background" to host the One Show.

Sent by a producer working on the prime-time show, the memo said that "ideally" candidates would be male, aged over 30, hail from an ethnic minority background and have a regional accent.

It added that recruiters at the BBC "are eager to see people who may live in the North West", preferably Liverpool or Manchester.

The leaked advert follows last week's public outcry when it was revealed that white job applicants had been turned down for two script-writing positions at the corporation because of their ethnicity.