Britain said on Monday it would freeze funding for the BBC for two years and begin a debate on whether a universal licence fee should continue in the modern television age.

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries told Parliament that the corporation needed to become a simpler, leaner organisation.

Dorries said the tax on all television-owning households that funds the broadcaster would be frozen at £159 a year until 2024, before it can rise in line with inflation for the next four years.

She said the new licence spending settlement would give the BBC around £3.7 billion. However, analysts have said a below-inflation budget will force the corporation to cut services.