THE BBC, which was yesterday forced to ditch some of its flagship programmes, is bracing itself for a second wave of strike action.

Unions said nationally the 15,000 journalists and technicians who joined the 24-hour walkout from BBC studios are preparing a 48-hour walkout from next Tuesday.

The BBC said 62 per cent of its staff worked yesterday, although the figure was as low as 29 per cent among news employees.

Presenters including Dermot Murnaghan, Natasha Kaplinksy, John Humphrys, Jeremy Paxman and Nicky Campbell stayed away from work.

A number of stars did cross picket lines in London, including Radio 1 DJs Chris Moyles and Jo Whiley and Radio 2's Sarah Kennedy.

Radio 2 presenter Terry Wogan wished people on the picket line good luck as he went into Broadcasting House.

Some familiar faces were also missing from the region's screens yesterday as news programme Look North was cut from half an hour to about five minutes.

Presenters including Carol Malia, Lara Rostron, Chris Jackson and Colin Briggs joined the protest against director general Mark Thompson's plans to shed 3,780 posts across the BBC nationally.

The strike also hit Radio Newcastle, Radio Cleveland and Radio York.

The 24-hour action involved members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bectu and Amicus.

In Newcastle, strikers manned a picket line outside the regional corporation headquarters and staged a demonstration at Grey's Monument, in the city centre, to enlist public support.

Brid Fitzpatrick, of the NUJ, said: "Around one in five jobs will go in TV and radio in the North-East if these cuts go ahead. Local programming is expensive and, at a time when ITV is cutting back on its regional output, we think it's vital the BBC keeps its strong local base."

Bectu spokesman Mark Scrimshaw said: "It isn't just about job losses. With fewer people doing the job, quality will suffer."

A BBC spokesman said that of 270 BBC staff in the North-East, 154 were working and 116 were on strike.

BBC Radio York aired live shows until noon then switched to a pre-recorded tape until 5pm.

A spokesman said: "We have several journalists in, much fewer than normal but enough to provide a news service."

BBC Radio Cleveland's managing editor Andrew Glover said last night: "The strike had a slight impact on our output but we prepared well as we wanted to give licence fee payers as good a service as on any other day. "

Mr Thompson said the job cuts were needed to persuade the Government to continue the BBC's licence funding and would result in more money for public service programmes.

He said the BBC had to find ways of delivering greater efficiency and releasing more money into new programmes and services.