Sir Michael Lyons provoked a storm of protest after a speech on Wednesday in which he said "nobody can be satisified" with the quality of the country's local and regional press.

The bosses of two of the country's biggest newspaper groups, Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press, have already strongly condemned the remarks, which come in the midst of the ongoing row over the BBC's plans for 68 online local video news outlets.

And Northcliffe's North-East regional editor John Meehan has now weighed in, claiming Sir Michael's comments are proof of his "strong bias" against the regonal media.

Hull Daily Mail editor John, who is co-ordinating Northcliffe's response to the BBC's local plans, said: "Sir Michael's comments are disturbing and reinforce Northcliffe's serious concerns about the impartiality and credibility of the process for reviewing the BBC local video proposals.

"Sir Michael leads the body that will decide whether the plans go ahead. He should not be commenting on these issues during the process and effectively pre-judging it.

"His remarks indicate that he has a strong bias against regional media and holds views which have no basis in fact. They also show that the BBC aims to supplant, rather than complement, the journalism of local and regional publishers.

"It is ridiculous for Sir Michael to talk about regional newspaper companies wanting to cut the BBC 'down in size'. Of course we don't want to do that. We do, however, oppose strongly its continuing growth, particularly in local and regional news, and its damaging impact on commercial operators and markets."

Sir Michael has also come under fire from Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, and Tim Bowdler, the chief executive of Johnston Press, over the speech.

Ms Bailey accused Sir Michael of making "an astonishing attack on the local press" and said the comments showed the "entire regulatory process to be a sham".

Mr Bowdler said that Sir Michael's remarks "must undermine confidence in the regulatory process - because it would appear that a decision had already been made, despite our lobbying."

As chairman of the Trust, Sir Michael is charged with overseeing a review of the BBC's controversial local video plans which have been condemned by the Newspaper Society as duplicating the work of regional press news providers.

Speaking at a lunch organised by the Broadcasting Press Guild, Sir Michael said: "There's nobody who can be satisfied with the quality of local news in most parts of the United Kingdom.

"The local press has nothing like the strength that it once had. It's not the same proposition that it was 15 years ago. Will the BBC make it better or worse? That's exactly the issue to be explored."

The BBC has since battled to limit the fallout from Sir Michael's comments, claiming they do not indicate that the chairman's mind was made up on whether to approve the local websites.

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