And finally... sacked newsreader Moira Stuart may switch to ITV

Speculation is mounting that ITV hopes to poach BBC newsreader Moira Stuart after she was axed from her job presenting Sunday morning bulletins.

The BBC's decision to drop her from Andrew Marr's Sunday AM programme caused an outcry from viewers and collea-gues, who feared the 55-year-old had been axed because bosses thought she was too old. It is believed that ITV is working on a line-up of factual programmes which Ms Stuart could be signed to present.

She has already fronted a number of documentaries for the BBC, including the documentary Moira Stuart in Search of Wilberforce, which was part of the broadcaster's commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

She has also appeared in the BBC family history programme Who Do You Think You Are?, as well as The Best of Jazz, The Holiday Programme and personal finance series Cashing In.

An ITV insider told The Guardian: "It has been the talk of ITN that a female newsreader is going to work for ITV."

But an ITN spokeswoman said: "In terms of news, we're certainly not involved in any poaching - we've got a full line-up."

A BBC spokeswoman declined to discuss details of Ms Stuart's contract, and said "nothing had changed" since the corporation's last statement on the matter. "Talks [about other presenting roles] are still continuing," she said.

When Ms Stuart was dropped from Sunday AM in March, the BBC said she was still working for them but would not reveal why she had been taken off the show.

BBC director general Mark Thompson, called before a parliamentary select committee last month to answer questions about the veteran newsreader's dismissal, told MPs that the way news programmes worked had changed.

He said: "BBC News, News 24, the radio networks, have changed over the years and the traditional role of the newsreader, as opposed to a correspondent or presenter, has virtually died out. We tend to use journalists across BBC news programmes... to read the news headlines."

Ms Stuart joined BBC Television in 1981, having worked previously as an actress and in radio continuity. She went on to present almost every news programme since, including the flagship Six o'Clock News and Nine o'Clock News.

For six years, she read the headlines on the BBC Breakfast programme, leaving for Sunday AM in May last year when the Breakfast format was revamped.

Her removal from Sunday AM sparked anger from colleagues including John Humphrys, Andrew Marr, Michael Buerk, Michael Crick, Sue MacGregor, Sir Trevor McDonald and Jon Snow, and the BBC was inundated with calls from the public demanding her re-instatement. The Daily Mail started a campaign in her support which they called "Save Moira for Britain".

She was voted Best Newscaster of the Year in 1988 by the TV and Radio Industries Club Awards, and in 1989 was voted Best Television Personality by the Women of Achievement Awards. In 1994, she took the Black Journalists' Association award for Best Female Television Personality and has won a host of other awards. She is also on many judging panels and was made an OBE in 2001.