ITV has launched legal proceedings against Scottish commercial broadcaster STV in a bid to recover what it claims is up to £38 million (E42m) in unpaid network programme budget contributions.

STV, which owns the ITV1 licences for central and north Scotland, has increasingly opted out of a raft of ITV -produced network programmes in a bid to save money and boost homegrown commissions.

ITV, which said it had been attempting to resolve the situation for more than a year, has already begun to withhold other payments to STV, meaning the outstanding net debt now stood at between £15 million and £20 million.

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