BBC journalists in England will go on a 48-hour strike after rejecting revised plans for cuts to local radio.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will retire on June 7 and 8.

They will also work to govern, which includes refusing to act in higher roles.

The BBC said it would continue to work with the union in an effort to minimize the impact on its staff and audiences.

The dispute centers on the BBC's plans for its 39 local radio stations to share more programmes.

Some concessions were made in talks mediated by conciliation service Acas, but according to the union they did not go far enough.

NUJ members working for BBC Local first went on strike on March 15, in a move that disrupted some programming.

A second strike planned to coincide with local elections on May 5 was called off while members voted on the BBC's revised proposal.

The union said the revised deal removed the risk of redundancies for 300 journalists and would see three additional pairs of weekend breakfast shows.

But it has been rejected by members and those working in local radio, regional television and online in England will go on strike in June.

Paul Siegert, national broadcasting organizer at NUJ, said: “Many of our members who have had to reapply for their jobs and face redundancy have had a very busy and disruptive time.

“This fight is about the heart of the BBC's public service mandate.

“Local news is vital not only for people to be informed and able to participate in local democracy, but it unites communities and those who will not be able to access local news digitally will lose the familiar presenters who have become his friends. .

“Local radio is not expensive compared to the BBC's budget and we believe the BBC could easily resolve this conflict.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We are obviously disappointed with the result of the NUJ vote.

“We will continue to engage with the union as we have in recent months in an effort to minimize the impact on our staff and our audiences.

“We have a plan to modernize local services across England, including more news journalists and a stronger online local service, which will not see an overall reduction in staffing levels or local funding.

“Our goal is a local service across TV, radio and online that delivers even greater value to communities.”

They oppose plans to close 36 stalls in a bid to save £2.3m and invest more money in online services.