The BBC should be more heavily regulated and there is no need for restrictions on foreign media ownership in the UK, a media lobbying group has said.

A report published on Wednesday by the Westminster Media Forum has criticised the parliamentary committee headed by Lord Puttnam set up to scrutinise the draft Communications Bill.

Lord Puttnam angered some in the media when his committee said earlier this year that the bill was wrong to open up UK media companies to foreign ownership.

Wednesday's report, A Good Bill Better, consists of 29 articles from media executives and MPs on the bill, with most of the contributors broadly supportive of the bill's principles.

David Elstein strongly criticises the Puttnam report

Former Five chief executive David Elstein describes the Puttnam committee's report on the bill as a "farrago of preposterous prejudice" and criticises its "nannying propensity".

The report also contains articles by a series of commentators arguing for Ofcom to regulate the BBC.

Regulatory regime

Labour MP Derek Wyatt says: "The BBC governors cannot govern. The BBC has to be within Ofcom - end of story."

The report is broadly supportive of the bill's intentions to create a regulatory regime for the media which is "light in touch yet effective".

BSkyB and BT declare themselves strong advocates of less regulation - BSkyB also argues for media law to be based on promoting competition, rather than on intervening to regulate content.

The Westminster Media Forum was formed in 1996 and aims to provide a forum where MPs and peers can discuss media issues with industry practitioners.