BBC head of north-west programming Aziz Rashid has apologised for snubbing Jewish leaders with a standardised reply to their complaint over the scrapping of the Jewish programme on Radio Manchester.

Agreeing to meet Manchester Jewish Representative Council members, Mr Rashid expressed regret to council president Frank Baigel for the tone of the previous correspondence. He had received “many complaints” about cancelling the show and “could not answer each individually”.

He added: “We take our responsibility to cover our Jewish community issues properly. I hope you’ll realise we
are committed public service broadcasters and want to serve all audiences in Manchester. We would welcome your thoughts on how we can achieve this in future.”

Mr Baigel had written to request a meeting “at which I am sure some understanding could be reached”. He complained that despite BBC consultation over its shake-up of local programming, at “no time was there any contact between Radio Manchester and any official of the Jewish community”.