The outgoing director general of the BBC has said the organisation is "ready to do more" for the UK after said the pandemic demonstrated "how deeply stitched we are into the fabric of national life".

"Public service values have never been more needed," Lord Hall told the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival.

"The BBC as public service media can now do more for the UK than ever before and we are ready to do more."

He added: "We have been reminded how important those things are that bring us together, we all know and feel how the last few years have heightened the sense of polarisation and Covid has brutally exposed the fault line."

Lord Hall's address on Monday marked his final speech as director-general after seven years in the job.

He drew attention to the educational programming offered to children while they were off from school during the lockdown.

"Public service broadcasters have always been part of the glue that binds our nations and communities together, but the last few months have emphasised that still further," he said.

"Audiences came to us in their millions for information they could rely on and respite from worries everyone was experiencing."

He said 94% of British people used the BBC in March, and TV viewing was up nearly 50% year on year in some weeks.