Sir David Attenborough, speaking to Jeremy Paxman for an interview in next week’s Radio Times has warned that job cuts at Bristol’s NHU responsible for series such as Planet Earth, the Blue Planet and Springwatch could leave its output “skimpy”.

The NHU is set to lose nearly one-third of its programme makers and £12m of its £37m budget as part of Mark Thompson’s latest corporation-wide budget cuts. Fifty seven out of 180 posts in the department will be lost in a six-year plan to cut 1,800 posts across the BBC.

Attenborough, whose latest series, Life In Cold Blood, begins on February 4th on BBC1, said there would be less natural history programming on the BBC as a result of the cuts.

He added that if output was to continue at current levels, but produced by a slimmed down NHU, it would lead to “skimpy” programming.

The broadcaster, 81, told the Radio Times: “With cuts of that size, you simply can’t continue the same level of output, or if you do, you’re going to replace it with something very skimpy.”

Independent producers of wildlife shows have also warned the corporation that the cuts would have “reverberations way beyond the BBC” because the Bristol-based NHU is a leader in its field.

A BBC spokeswoman defended the cuts, saying: “The big landmark pieces and events such as Springwatch are continuing on the BBC and quality will in no way be compromised.”