THE BBC has been accused of behaving like an imperial power and treating Scotland "like a colony" ahead of a showdown between MSPs and the corporation's director general.

Industry representatives and academics yesterday called for an increasingly federal structure at the corporation in evidence to MSPs.

It would see more power over spending licence payers' fees and commissioning devolved to BBC Scotland, which would then produce more content specifically for Scottish viewers.

John Archer, a former Head of Music and Arts at BBC Scotland, launched an outspoken attack on the way the corporation is run, comparing its position north of the border to a colony of the British Empire in the 1940s.

The owner of Hopscotch Films, who was representing Independent Producers Scotland, told the Scottish Parliament's culture committee: "Essentially in Scotland for broadcast production we are chronically underdeveloped. We are subject to the imperial power of London, we are a colony and we're in the position Churchill was after the Second World War when he said we can't let the colonies rule themselves, we have to control them.

"We deserve better. I don't think the BBC in London get the new Scotland. I think we need a radical change and shift in emphasis. I don't think we need any quick fixes, we need something that is bold. We need the equivalent - or better - of the Scottish Parliament in Westminster, we need some freedom.

"The money raised in Scotland should be spent from Scotland, Scotland should decide what is made here. Money gives power in broadcasting and the ability to say yes is all important. Nobody at BBC Scotland can say yes to a network production. That's just terrible, we deserve better and we should imagine better for Scotland."

The committee is examining charter renewal of the BBC, and follows tensions between the body and the SNP over its coverage of the independence referendum. Thousands of protestors marched on its headquarters in Glasgow days before the vote following allegations of bias, while a row between Alex Salmond and former BBC political editor Nick Robinson has rumbled on.

Nicola Sturgeon and the culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop, are pushing for the BBC to decentralise decision making and budgets to Scotland, with the SNP favouring new TV and radio channels dedicated to Scottish content.