The head of Sky News has made a renewed appeal for court proceedings to be televised in the light of the August riots.

John Ryley has written to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke calling for an end to the ban on television cameras entering the courtroom.

During the summer, Sky News, which began a campaign to lift the ban in January 2010, started to stream the proceedings of the Supreme Court live on its website, a service which has attracted an average of 90,000 individual viewers every day.

In the light of widespread public anger at crimes committed during the riots across the UK this summer, Ryley argues now is the time for more public access to the courts.

‘The controversy over sentencing policy following the recent riots has once again illustrated the lack of transparency in our judicial system,’ he wrote in the letter to Clarke.

‘The public is unsurprisingly confused by the discrepancies in some of the sentences handed down to those involved in the rioting and looting.

‘I believe that if television cameras were allowed to broadcast the remarks made by judges when they pass sentence, it would go a long way to making the process more transparent and would dramatically improve public confidence in the system.’

A similar proposal was made during meetings last year between the Ministry of Justice and representatives from Sky News, the BBC and ITN.

In the letter, Ryley goes on to suggest that cameras be introduced into courts on a gradual basis, starting with the televising of sentencing remarks and judgments.

At present, cameras - including video cameras and mobile phones - are banned from courts by section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925.

A number of countries have relaxed their rules in recent years to allow some televising of court proceedings, but critics have warned that US-style coverage can reduce serious trials to cheap entertainment and distract lawyers and witnesses.