THE BBC has come under fire for "stockpiling" thousands of doses of the swine flu drug Tamiflu.

The corporation said it bought supplies for staff who may come into contact with the virus throughout the course of their work.

However, this prompted an angry response from the Tories who say the authorities have warned against buying up stocks of the drug.

Scottish Tory public health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: "It is nothing short of disgraceful that a licence-payer-funded body is storing away an antiviral which is free on the NHS."

About 4000 doses of the Tamiflu drug have been bought by the corporation.

The drug is not for general use and can only be given to staff facing work-related risks and not those coming into contact with the virus through friends or family.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We have a duty of care to protect staff who may come into contact with infection in the course of their work."

The BBC's supplies need to be distributed all around the world to ensure rapid access.

"We are not competing with the NHS for scare vaccines - the UK has strong stocks of antiviral medicines," the spokeswoman added.

"However, we would not expect the NHS to pay for our stocks of antiviral medicines in, for example, Hong Kong or South America."

However, Mr Carlaw said he now plans to write to BBC bosses to raise the issue.

"As reported on BBC news, the Scottish Government advice is clear - they do not encourage anyone to stockpile Tamiflu," he said. "Do BBC executives not watch their own news bulletins?"