BBC director general Tim Davie has spoken publicly for the first time about the dismissal of Scott Mills. The outgoing chief has said it became "very clear" that the former BBC presenter had to be let go after the corporation received "new information". Mills was recently sacked from his BBC Radio 2 show. During a company-wide call, Davie said: "We're trying to act fairly. It was new information quite recently that we received that made it very clear about the decision we had to make."

He also acknowledged that the radio presenter's dismissal "was a real shock to the organisation". Davie went on to say: "When something happens where I think there's a lot of grief, there's a lot of shock, I think all I would say is we're trying to act as the leadership with kindness."

BBC Breakfast host Sally Nugent quizzed Davie on when the BBC first became aware of the issue, to which he referred to a statement published on Wednesday 1 April.

Davie added: "I think people need to look at the statement, we made [it] as clear as we can. We obviously have to be sensitive when you've got personal information and we work carefully through it, but the statement is really clear."

He was also questioned about whether the workplace culture had shifted during his time at the BBC, to which he responded: "It'll never be fully fully fixed, but I think it's changing, I really do. I think if you come in and behave in a way that some of this industry saw 20 years ago, it just would not be acceptable. You want to create an environment where it's just ludicrous to do that."

Davie said he believed "real progress" had been achieved: "I think the industry is kinder," and spoke about individuals in senior roles within the industry "who have had a lot of power - and if they misuse it, that has not been called out, let's face it".

He added: "I do think we've reached a point where people behaving badly now, you can see we're not going to tolerate it."

The alleged offences are reported to have happened between 1997 and 2000.