Thousands of people are freaking out about the BBC's plan to shut down its recipes website

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The BBC announced on Tuesday that it planned to scrap its food website and archive the recipes.

The decision is part of a wider plan to save £15 million ($22 million) from the publicly funded corporation's budget.

But people are questioning the decision to remove the internet resource, which seemingly has few overhead costs.

Twitter users are calling the decision "terrible" and "half-baked."

A Change.org petition to "Save the BBC's recipe archive" has gained more than 70,000 signatures since it was started last week, when it was first reported that the website, called BBC Food, may be cut.

The website holds more than 11,000 recipes submitted by chefs from around the world.

The head of BBC News, James Harding, said the BBC "cannot be all things to all people."

Last July, UK Chancellor George Osborne described the BBC website as becoming "a bit more imperial in its ambitions."

"If you've got a website that's got features and cooking recipes — effectively the BBC website becomes the national newspaper as well as the national broadcaster," he said.

The recipe website closing follows the UK government's raft of proposed changes last Friday to how the BBC is governed.

Many on Twitter said they relied on BBC recipes for their meals:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732515893377400832
Without #bbcrecipes I'd still be living off raw grass and spit. Thank you Beeby

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732464769152602112
Literally 90% of my dinners are from #bbcrecipes

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732477017946357760
How can the government slag off people for not cooking at home/relying on junk food then destroy a resource of easy, free recipes like this?

The former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and a BBC journalist also weighed in:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732493268655558660
The plan to remove #bbcrecipes from its website is a Great British Take Off. Let's stop it! Please sign and RT! https://t.co/w4lV1EsnVC

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732487061857411073
The half-baked deletion of #bbcrecipes in an age of processed food & obesity will be yet another U turn.

The BBC said people would still be able to access bookmarked recipes, but new recipes would be tough to find:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732509776526114816
1/3 Food website will close & expected to be archived or mothballed - as happens to other old BBC sites #bbcrecipes

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732509944981905409
2/3 Food site won’t be updated & won’t be linked to - but if you know URL for a recipe you could still go to it #bbcrecipes

BBC GoodFood, which is run separately by BBC Worldwide, will not be affected by the decision.

Also on the chopping block is the BBC's online News Magazine and the Newsbeat website. Newsbeat is the news service for Radio 1 and Radio 1 Extra, which is targeted at people ages 13 to 24.

People are not happy about the demise of Newsbeat's website either:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732512466702336000
.@BBCNewsbeat is actual proper BBC remit (inform, educate, entertain) stuff that you just don't get elsewhere for teenagers. Leave it alone.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/732511101603225600
Ok the BBC recipes are safe. The much bigger worry is BBC Newsbeat - young people need impartial news

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