MERIDIAN bosses have rejected staff ideas for keeping television presentation in Kent.

Workers at the studios in New Hythe, near Maidstone, have been fighting plans to slash jobs and switch the presentation of news programmes, including the flagship Meridian Tonight, to Hampshire.

But bosses insist that, in the wake of the Granada/Carlton merger to create a single ITV, it makes financial sense to present programmes for each of its three areas from a single studio operation.

They have promised new offices in Kent, one in the Maidstone area and another in Ashford. The New Hythe operation is likely to close.

Staff fear that by switching presentation from Kent, news programmes will lose their regional feel and identity, leaving the BBC in Tunbridge Wells as the only Kent-based television presenter.

A union source said they were very disappointed by the decision and described the mood at New Hythe as "grim".

A Meridian spokeswoman said the company did not believe the staff proposals were an improvement on its own but added: "We are prepared to continue discussions."

The proposed presentation switch is opposed by a powerful alliance of business leaders and civic chiefs, including Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of Kent County Council, and Allan Willett, the Lord Lieutenant of Kent.