THEY have become one of the staples of modern television, giving viewers the chance to have their say live on air.

Now it has emerged that the TV phone-in has humble roots right here in York.

In a surprise revelation, the city’s MP has claimed to have pioneered the initiative, more than quarter of a century ago.

Back in the early 1980s, Hugh Bayley was a manager for a TV firm called the International Broadcasting Trust (IBT), and was involved in experimenting with new ideas.

He said that on a programme called Lucky You, Lucky Me, he decided to invite viewers to phone in during the show.

Mr Bayley said: “Phone-ins had taken place before to raise money, such as on charity appeals, but this was the first time it was for people to provide feedback for a programme.

“We hired the switchboard from the Tote, as they had the largest in the country, with 60 lines.

“The programme went out on the second night that Channel 4 was on the air, and it was presented as a discussion in the pub between Jonathan Dimbleby and George Cole, who starred in Minder.”

The half-hour show was about third-world development and, ten minutes in, viewers were able to ring up and air their views.

Mr Bayley said: “I was with 60 volunteers from the Tote, ready to take calls. Within ten seconds, all 60 lines lit up and we carried on taking calls for three hours. As soon as you put down one call, someone else rang in.”

The MP said the experiment proved pivotal. He said: “It showed television that there was an appetite from the audience to say things about the programmes.”

Looking at how phone-ins have developed though, Mr Bayley said: “I am appalled by rigged polls and I am appalled at the way premium rate phone numbers – which did not exist back then – are now used to fleece the viewers and to pay for programmes and prizes.”

“But you cannot stop technology and we do have premium rate numbers now. And whereas I was using a phone-in in relation to a fairly high-brow documentary programmes. They are now the staple of light entertainment shows.”

Mr Bayley revealed his role in the early phone-ins during a debate in Parliament on local media.

He and a number of other backbench MPs spoke about the future of local newspapers.

Mr Bayley spoke about reductions in workforce at The Press and the recent closure of the Walmgate printing press.

He said there was no appetite for public subsidy, but said the Government, council and other public bodies should be made to place more adverts, such as for job vacancies, with local newspapers.