Thousands of Scots have signed a petition calling on BBC Scotland to reverse its decision to stop airing the Scottish Government's daily coronavirus briefings.
The channel yesterday announced it will no longer broadcast Nicola Sturgeon's press updates and and will instead decide whether to air them based on “editorial merit”.
But the move to bin the Covid-19 briefings from showing on TV, which have taken place throughout the pandemic, has been slammed by the public.
More than 8,600 people have now signed a petition just 15 hours after it was launched.
Organiser Laura McNeill claims BBC Scotland's decision to not broadcast the briefings would put the country at "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."
Scots who signed the petition have expressed their support.
One wrote: "These updates are vital public health information and it should be mandatory that they are broadcast."
Another wrote: "The FMs daily Covid-19 updates on BBC are vital to keep people informed and engaged and widely welcomed by the community."
A third commented: "As a doctor, I understand the value in these briefings and see the effect they have in making people aware of issues and actions."
BBC Scotland has taken the decision to scale back on as business at the Scottish Parliament has returned to a more normal basis.
The BBC will continue streaming the briefings live on its news website.
The broadcaster stressed it will take a "consistent approach to coverage of the various government briefings across the UK nations".
A BBC Scotland 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."
