THE SNP say they warned BBC Scotland bosses against censoring pro-independence blogs last Saturday, and that at the time, senior management in the corporation knew nothing about what was happening.

In a letter to director general Tony Hall, SNP media spokesperson Hannah Bardell, said the whole stooshie was “avoidable”.

The claim will raise questions about how involved BBC Scotland was in the decision, and will reinforce speculation that the call to complain to YouTube about channels hosted by Wings Over Scotland and Peter Curran, was made by lawyers in London.

READ: SNP's full letter to the BBC complaining about Wings YouTube ban

Bardell’s missive to Hall follows an earlier intervention from former First Minister Alex Salmond, who last night told The National he was pleased the situation had seemingly been resolved.

In her letter Bardell said the SNP’s head of broadcast media, “made contact with senior editorial management on Saturday July 28, and nobody – in Scotland or in London – claimed to know anything of this.”

She added: “His contact actually enabled an opportunity for the BBC to get quickly out of the situation they were in and yet, inexplicably, by Sunday the BBC press office issued a statement, confirming the actions of YouTube was based on their request and it even went on to attempt to justify this heavy-handed and inconsistent approach.”

Bardell also asked Hall to explain the “factors and decisions” that “led to the two specific accounts being deemed worthy of contact with YouTube and their resultant ban”. She said she was “also keen to understand who made and signed off this decision.”

The Livingston MP added: “With the subsequent (and welcome although overdue) backtrack by BBC I hope that this unfortunate episode can be cleared up and that the BBC will work to repair the damage to the trust that people in Scotland have in the BBC.”

Salmond’s letter to Hall on Wednesday asked him to prove that the corporation was “not pursuing a campaign against sites which support Scottish independence”.

READ MORE: BBC backs down in Wings YouTube row and blames Labour councillor

The ex-SNP chief yesterday told The National: “The BBC need to realise that in the modern world you can’t act as a censor of political debate,” he said.

“And they still haven’t told us why pro-independence platforms were deliberately targeted – it’s hard to believe the explanation that it’s all some misfortune and accident. However, I welcome the climbdown and hope there will be a more rational response in future.

“I also expect they will restore Peter Curran’s platform in due course.”