Tuesday, May 24 2005 12:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) looked all set to go for a 48-hour stoppage of its programmes next week even as its top official insisted that the chaos caused by the first 24-hour strike was "a price worth paying" to push through his reforms.

"I clearly regret the fact that some programmes and services will be disrupted... I believe it is a price worth paying to secure a strong BBC in the future," director general Mark Thompson said.

But union leaders insisted that a longer stoppage, scheduled for next Tuesday (May 31, 2005), would go ahead unless Thompson agreed to "meaningful negotiations".

The next stoppages are scheduled for May 31 and June 1, with the fourth strike day yet to be named.

The three unions behind yesterday's strike claimed the strike was the "most successful in BBC's history" as it affected 95 per cent of all production activity with between 13,000 and 15,000 employees not reporting for duty, 'The Guardian' newspaper reported.

But the BBC claimed that 10,500 staff out of a total of 17,000 expected to work had turned up.

Thompson seemed determined to implement his plans to cut around 4,000 jobs and slash 15 per cent from budgets in an effort to save 355 million pound sterlings annually.

In the news division and some regional newsrooms, only a handful came to work but in other departments like marketing and human resources, more than 90 per cent worked, the network said.