Nearly half of the staff on ITV1's London Tonight face redundancy as part of a plan to integrate it with the broadcaster's national news.

The ITN-produced London bulletin, fronted by Nina Hossain, will move into a studio with ITV News, with the two programmes sharing more journalists and resources.

The changes will see up to 15 of the 36 posts on London Tonight made redundant, with another three jobs likely to go elsewhere in ITN.

Staff on the capital news programme were said to be shell-shocked by the scale of the cuts.

"People knew there was an announcement coming but no one had foreseen quite how brutal it was going to be," said one source.

ITV News editor Deborah Turness said the changes would ensure a more co-operative approach to newsgathering and production and a more sustainable future for ITV London news.

The changes would also see more journalists "self-shooting" news reports where appropriate.

ITV News said the changes would "maximise the benefits of London's proximity to ITV network national news ... preventing unnecessary duplication of reports and deployments across national and London".

London Tonight will remain 30 minutes long in its 6.30pm slot, although some staffers questioned how the programme would be able to fill the time with virtually half the workforce.

Staff were told about the changes on Wednesday, with a voluntary redundancy scheme set up.

The changes are separate to ITV's ongoing review of its news programmes and regional bulletins.

Turness said she was very proud of the award-winning news service and was committed to making a high quality half hour of news each weekday night for Londoners.

"As a news supplier it is incumbent upon us to review the way we make our programmes, and to seek more flexible and efficient ways to operate," she said.

"These changes will see our London news service maximise the benefits of the team's proximity to the national news operation, including a move to the network news studio which will deliver a larger, HD home for our regional programmes.

"Our plans will ensure a more co-operative approach to newsgathering and production and a more sustainable future for ITV London news."

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