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A cross-party group of MPs worried by Sky's sudden swoop on ITV stock is planning to write to culture secretary Tessa Jowell and media regulator Ofcom about the effects the purchase could have on UK broadcasting.

It is understood that the group of almost 75 MPs, including Jon Cruddas (Lab), Peter Bottomley (Con) and Elliot Morley (Lab), will ask John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, to look into the acquisition.

Austin Mitchell, Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary media group, told journalists last night: "We're very concerned because of the effect this will have on the ecology of broadcasting and the uncertainty about what will happen. It's a big move in the field and yet all is quiet on the western front -- and the eastern, northern and southern fronts."

The group has also signed a motion asking the government to speed up its review of public service broadcasting, following Sky's purchase of a 17.9% stake in ITV last month.

The acquisition has prompted widespread opposition from MPs, with Lord David Puttnam, Channel 4 deputy chairman, saying the deal "should not be allowed to stand".

"It is my personal belief that BSkyB, and thereby Rupert Murdoch, has unquestionably acquired 'material influence' at ITV and this can only lead to a further and unprecedented erosion of plurality within the British media," Puttnam wrote in an article for The New Statesman recently.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has also expressed concern about Sky's share raid on ITV, calling it "anti-democratic".

Branson, a shareholder in cable company NTL, which yesterday finally dropped its £5bn bid for ITV, said the deal put too much control of the media in the hands of News Corp, which owns around 39% of Sky as well as newspapers including The Sun and The Times.

BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch hit back at these criticisms, saying that British broadcasting was "authoritarian and elitist".

NTL yesterday confirmed that it has lodged an official complaint about Sky's stake in ITV at the Office of Fair Trading. This adds to an earlier submission to Ofcom, which is now considering whether the deal constitutes a change in control at ITV. It is widely believed that Ofcom will not oppose the sale because it is below the 20% limit allowed by the regulator.

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