U.K. Film Council to be shuttered

LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Britain's Department for Culture, Media and Sport has announced plans to abolish the U.K. Film Council as a cost-cutting measure, the BBC said Monday.

The film council was established in 2000 to financially support low-budget British films.

Although Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wants to develop a "direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute," U.K. Film Council Chairman Tim Bevan has described the move as "a bad decision," the BBC said.

No end date for the council was reported.