Unions are planning a 48-hour strike for Tuesday and Wednesday

A 48-hour strike set for Tuesday and Wednesday is in the balance after the first walkout disrupted news on Monday.

Unions want "meaningful negotiations" about plans to cut 3,780 jobs and said they were willing to compromise. The BBC said it was too early to comment.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said next week's strike could be called off if "significant progress" was made.

"That totally depends on the BBC having something new to offer us today," NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said on arriving for the talks.

We're looking to compromise - I hope they've got the same spirit Luke Crawley Bectu Q&A: What is Acas?

Both sides remained locked in talks more than 12 hours after the discussions began.

"We're hoping there will be a resolution to the dispute. We've come here with an open mind and prepared to negotiate and we hope that the BBC will too," Mr Dear said earlier.

The broadcasting union Bectu's Luke Crawley added: "We're looking to compromise - I hope they've got the same spirit.

"They've got a chance to start to negotiate - and if that's the case, I think we'll be in here for a long time."

Stephen Dando, head of the corporation's human resources department BBC People, is representing the broadcaster at the talks.

Mark Thompson says the BBC must be streamlined for the future

The NUJ, Bectu and Amicus unions have accused the BBC of already making decisions on cutting jobs and selling some departments, leaving no room for negotiation.

BBC correspondent Nick Higham said he understood there was "a possibility of a concession from the BBC".

The corporation is not expected to back down on the overall scale of the cuts.

But it may be willing to negotiate "at a local level" in individual departments, Higham said - looking at whether the right people and services are being cut.

"That might be enough to satisfy the unions that there's been some movement on the BBC's side," Higham said.

"That could be the basis for a settlement. But at the moment, there's no guarantee that next week's strikes will be called off."

Streamline

Director general Mark Thompson has said the cuts are necessary to streamline the BBC and take it into a rapidly-changing hi-tech broadcasting environment.

But the unions do not want any compulsory redundancies and fear remaining staff will have to pick up the extra workload of those who leave.

The BBC said Monday's 24-hour action saw 38% of staff strike - but the three unions involved put the figure at 55%.

Some news programmes were forced off air but most shows were broadcast normally.