Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for BBC Scotland to reverse its decision to stop broadcasting the country's daily coronavirus briefings.

The broadcaster announced on Thursday that it will no longer be providing live coverage of the press conference chaired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon every day.

It is understood that, from next week, editors will decide whether the briefings will be televised based on "editorial merit".

But the decision has been met with fury from thousands of Scots, who have backed a petition demanding a u-turn.

At time of writing, more than 5600 people have signed the petition to the broadcaster - just 13 hours since it was launched.

Organiser Laura McNeil said the decision will put the country "at a serious risk".

She wrote: "The Scottish Government Covid-19 Briefings have been and still are an essential tool in dealing with this public health crisis, used to convey important information to the people of this country.

"To deny that is to put the country at a serious risk.

"We have no control over broadcasting rights and no national media and not everyone has access to internet.

"The BBC are causing an issue where the only one should be that of public health."

Those who backed the petition rallied in support of Ms McNeil's message.

One wrote: "Even although I live in England I watch it regularly to learn about developments."

Another said: "The FMs daily Covid-19 updates on BBC are vital to keep people informed and engaged and widely welcomed by the community."

Announcing their decision yesterday, a BBC spokesman said: "“We will continue to provide extensive coverage of the government press conferences across our news services, including live streaming online.

“We will of course consider showing press conferences live when any major developments or updates are anticipated.”