Former BBC director general Greg Dyke has outlined plans for local TV network and described previous plan as being ‘too cautious’.

Dyke, who is investigating the possibilities of a new local TV network for the Government, laid out a more ambitious plan than those of investment banker Nicholas Shott, who has been handed a similar task.

In a speech delivered at York University, Dyke said that his Local Television Advisory Committee would recommend a network of up to 80 stations, at a cost of over £500,000 a year.

The investigation is being conducted ahead of the expiry of ITV’s license to provide regional news across its network in 2014 and follows the Government scrapping a pilot scheme last year to provide a replacement news service to the ITV network.

Dyke also admitted that should local television be introduced, there was a danger that some cities, such as York, would miss out.

He said: "Instead local television will be concentrated in the dozen or so cities which are already well served by regional television – the likes of Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle and London rather than those that aren’t well served like Sheffield, Coventry, Sunderland, Exeter and of course York."

This was followed by a call to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to be ‘courageous’ in proceeding with the scheme.