THE BBC and Meridian have gone head to head in a row over which channel's local TV news is attracting more viewers.

According to the BBC, more viewers are switching on its South East Today news programme than ITV's Meridian Tonight. The broadcaster has released figures showing its flagship evening news programme South East Today with a greater audience share in January than its ITV rival.

The BBC says it won 200,000 (27 per cent) viewers, while Meridian Tonight gained only 180,000 (25 per cent).

But Meridian quickly countered the BBC's claims with its own figures showing it to be ahead in the ratings.

A spokesman for Meridian said: "We're at a loss to know where the BBC are getting their figures from. According to the figures supplied to us by BARB, this is the true story. In January Meridian Tonight's average figure was 30.5 per cent, while the BBC took only 27.4 per cent.

The clash of figures shows that competition for the Kent market has never been closer and strikes a blow for Meridian, which moved its news broadcasting to Hampshire last year.

Despite a £40m investment in county, and the opening of its £2m studios at Vinters Park in November, the station is still yet to prove that the restructuring has not affected its viewer loyalty and market share.

The BBC's high profile recruitment of presenter Geoff Clark may well prove to be a David to Meridian's Goliath.

The presenter who had been popular face of Meridian Tonight for 12 years said in an interview with the Kent Messenger Group last year that his decision to join the BBC had been prompted by his belief that local news should be based in the region it serves.

The BBC's head of regional and local programmes for the South East, Mike Hapgood, said of the BBC's figures; "It's a great reward for all the hard work the team have been putting in and it's great to see the viewers are enjoying our new line up."