The BBC has come under fire from sports internet message boards users who are outraged at a string of planned closures.

The coporation is planning a phased closure of message boards relating to Scottish football, cricket, rugby union and Radio Five Live - which covers topics including tennis, rugby league, snooker and disability sport - by the end of October and November.

"There are message boards available for almost every sport on the worldwide web, and we don't believe that the BBC's commitment to be distinctive in this area merits the vast expense that traditional message boards require," said Chris Russell, the sport interactive development director, on the Sport's Editor's Blog.

"While some of the message boards feature high-quality content, they are still prone to people trying to annoy or provoke fellow users."

The boards will be replaced by areas within the 606 website, which aims to be a central hub for "members creating higher-quality content and debating with other fans in a safer more pleasant environment".

The overhaul of the message boards is a joint initiative agreed by BBC Sport, BBC Wales, BBC Scotland and Five Live.

However, scores of angry users immediately posted responses to the news of the impending closures, arguing that the BBC was not listening to its users.

One user labelled the centralisation as a "disgraceful and undemocratic approach" that "looks very much like a charter for censorship and control, typical of the middle-class cabal that runs your organisation".

Within a day of Mr Russell posting the closure plans almost 100 people had expressed their concerns.

The move follows the previous merging of the English Teams message board.

Others accused the closures of subjugating all sports to the dominant "football-based" 606 website.

Mr Russell said the new areas of the website would continue to be "closely aligned" with existing programmes in Scotland and Wales as well as TV and radio output on Five Live and BBC Sport.

He acknowledged there has been "vocal criticism" of the new format on the 606 website and said: "We're not hiding from the need for improvement."

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