BBC Radio 5 Live's current contract was due to expire in May next year, but the Premier League has agreed that the network will retain exclusive national radio coverage for two seasons beyond that.

Local stations will continue to be allowed to cover teams in their area, but 5 Live will be the only national station with live commentaries of England's top division.

The Chief Executive of the Premier League, Peter Leaver, said: "I am delighted with the extension that we have agreed with Radio 5 Live and we look forward to continuing a very successful relationship."

The Chief Executive of BBC News, which runs Radio 5 Live, said: "This is excellent news for the licence fee payer, who is now guaranteed free access to coverage by the BBC of our national sport.

"It also reflects the BBC's continuing commitment to bring major sporting events to the British public".

Meanwhile Mike Lewis, who negotiates radio sports coverage for the corporation, expressed his delight that the Premier League has confidence in the BBC's coverage of live football.

"It's been an extremely productive partnership, because we're able to take fans to all the key games - and deliver high quality commentaries and analysis," he added.

The news came as club chairmen rejected plans for pay-per-view television coverage of the league and although there was no chance of this happening in radio, it is thought commercial radio stations were interested in the contract.

BBC Radio 5 Live recently achieved its highest audience ratings ever of 5.6m, and with live games not available on terrestrial television, the football coverage is amongst the station's most popular programming.