ANGRY York residents are staging an armchair revolt against television companies Sky and ITV.

Shop owner Andrew Clark who lives in Tanner Row in the centre of York said he is angry because his ITV regional news has switched from Yorkshire's Leeds-based Calendar news to Newcastle-based Tyne Tees 120 miles away.

Mr Clark, 52, who runs Xes in Goodramgate, said he got Sky installed four years ago so he could pick up Yorkshire TV through his dish and this worked until a couple of weeks ago when the switch occurred.

Now Mr Clark said he has been left watching TV programmes that don't affect him and has been told by both Sky and ITV there is nothing they can do about it.

Andrew Clark said: "I want to watch the news that relates to Yorkshire issues. I switched on the other night and was watching a piece on binge drinking in Newcastle.

"With all due respect to Newcastle I want to watch what is going on in York.

"It's a ridiculous situation that needs sorting.

"I'm annoyed because I can't watch the news items that affect me as a shop owner and city resident."

The picture is no clearer in Strensall, near York, where Pauline Reynolds said she has experienced similar problems and made repeated calls to Sky and ITV to complain.

The 63-year-old, who lives in Waincroft, said she sympathises greatly with Mr Clark as she too has had her local news come from Tyne Tees in recent weeks. She said: "I think there should be a major protest, I don't see why my friend who lives in Scarborough gets ITV Yorkshire and I am left with Tyne Tees when I am closer to Leeds where Calendar news comes from.

"I refuse to accept that someone in an office somewhere has decided I live nearer to Newcastle than Leeds."

A spokeswoman for Tyne Tees television said ITV along with BBC and Channel 4 was undergoing a project to reallocate regional programmes to viewers who receive them through Sky.

She said: "We realise there have been some problems and there have been some anomalies and there will be a full review carried out once the project is complete."

A Sky spokeswoman said: "We have had quite a number of calls from members of the public about this in the past few weeks and we have explained that it is a decision made by BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Welsh channel S4C."

Updated: 10:42 Friday, July 30, 2004