BBC Alba should extend its remit to make programmes in the Scots language, a former leader of the SNP has urged.

Gordon Wilson said having a Gaelic language channel but no broadcasting in Scots was a "cultural flaw".

In a submission to the BBC Trust, which is consulting on the future of the corporation, he said: "Gaelic is an important part of Scottish culture.

"Yet Scotland has another tradition in the Scots language still spoken in different forms throughout Scotland and used widely amongst the ordinary folk of Scotland.

"It dwarves that of Gaelic.

"Scots has been instrumental in enriching Scottish culture in poetry, prose and plays but does not enjoy the support it should from a national broadcaster."

He said BBC Alba was "stuffed with repeats" and could produce a range of programmes, especially music-based, highlighting the Scots language.

Mr Wilson, who led the SNP in the 1980s and now runs the Options for Scotland think tank, also criticised BBC Scotland's news coverage.

He questioned whether the BBC's appointment of Sarah Smith as Scotland Editor would "make a difference in defeating invincible metropolitan bias".

He added: "The position should be under constant monitoring".

He also called for BBC Scotland's early evening news to take a more international outlook, using the corporations network of foreign correspondents

Criticising the "tedious, parochial diet of murder, rape and assault," in the BBC's coverage, he added: "Scotland as a nation has a distinctive outlook on international affairs which cannot find a place in the UK news and current affairs coverage from London".

Mr Wilson's submission comes as Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Secretary, prepares to deliver a keynote speech on the future of the BBC later this week in Edinburgh.