Meridian TV's controversial move out of Southampton will be questioned in a House of Commons debate tonight.

City MP John Denham has landed an Adjournment Debate when he will speak of his fears for the city's broadcasting industry in the wake of Meridian's move out of Northam.

A £4.5 billion national merger between TV giants Carlton and Meridian owners Granada to form one country-wide ITV company preceded the decision to leave the city and shed up to 175 staff. Now Meridian, which has its studios in Northam, is moving later this year to a £6m hi-tech centre at Solent Business Park in Whiteley, near Fareham.

It spells the end of a half-century connection with Southampton for the firm and its predecessors.

Mr Denham told the Daily Echo: "What happens in broadcasting is that you get clusters of talent, like here with Meridian, the BBC and several production companies.

"If you take out a big chunk of the talent it has to have an impact on the broadcasting industry in Southampton.

"What I am going to say to the minister is that since its inception, one of the major roles of ITV has been to match the BBC and produce quality regional programmes. It now looks like there will be less and less quality regional programming on ITV."

The 7pm debate will be on the Parliamentary Channel, which is available on cable and satellite TV.