BBC's Working Lunch show to end

The show's current hosts are Declan Curry and Naga Munchetty

BBC business programme Working Lunch will no longer be broadcast from the end of July, it has been announced.

BBC World current affairs digest GMT with George Alagiah will replace the show in its 1230 slot on BBC Two.

There are also plans for new business programmes to go out at the weekend on the BBC News Channel and BBC 5 live.

Head of Newsgathering Fran Unsworth said closing the show was a "difficult decision" because the team worked so "so creatively and passionately".

"We hope to do everything we can to continue serving the audience reached by Working Lunch."

'Always sad'

A BBC statement added: "The size of the Working Lunch audience has suffered a slow but steady decline since 2001.

"A re-launch of Working Lunch in October 2008 has failed to reverse the audience decline which now appears to be stable.

Working Lunch began in 1994

"It's always sad when a programme reaches the end of its life cycle, but our business coverage has never been about one programme."

Working Lunch began in 1994 and has been presented by a selection of well-known names including Adrian Chiles, Paddy O'Connell and Adam Shaw.

Chiles, who announced last week that he was quitting the BBC, left Working Lunch in 2007 to work on BBC One teatime programme The One Show on a full-time basis.

Working Lunch has recently been attracting an audience of around 300,000 viewers.