The BBC is seeking the approval of industry watchdog Ofcom for a scheme which would provide broadband users with on-demand local news online.

An Ofcom report is due to assess the damage of launching such a service to the existing online local news outlets - the publication is due to be completed in November.

The proposed £68 million service will be an expansion of the BBC's local websites and would operate in 65 UK regions.

BBC trustee and chair of the Trust's public value and fair trading committee, Diane Coyle, said that the move was a response to demand from licence fee payers for more local services.

"We now want to receive all comments - positive and negative - from the public and the industry before we consider the application in detail," she said.

According to recent figures from the Guardian, 75 million streaming and download requests have been made by broadband users on the BBC's new iPlayer service, where viewers can catch-up on missed TV shows.