BBC4 and Radio 4 Extra are set to be axed after the next few years.

The BBC Director-General Tim Davie dropped the bombshell as part of a major speech to staff revealing future digital plans for the BBC.

The plan focuses on creating a modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation that drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences. 

Overall, there will be up to 1,000 fewer people employed in the public-funded part of the BBC over the next few years.

Director-General Tim Davie told staff: “When I took this job I said that we needed to fight for something important: public service content and services, freely available universally, for the good of all. This fight is intensifying, the stakes are high.”

BBC4 has mainly run repeats recently but in the past has helped to nurture major comedy series including Detectorists. A one-off special was recently announced for the hit series.

Radio 4 Extra has a reputation for broadcasting both classic and contemporary comedy. It recently launched DMs Are Open, co-hosted by comedian Athena Kugblenu.