There were some heated debates last night as BBC's Question Time was broadcast live from Weymouth.

The show, presented by journalist Fiona Bruce, was held at The Bay Theatre at Weymouth College.

Environment Secretary George Eustice, former Conservative Cabinet member Michael Portillo, left wing political activist Ash Sarkar, Labour MP Alison McGovern and the economist and author Howard Davies were on the panel, fielding questions from many local people on a range of subjects.

Alison McGovern said the new points system for immigration would be "very bureaucratic" and would make things "much more complex for people." She also spoke on the need for better pay for people who work in social care.

An audience member, who said they were from London, caused quite a stir during a debate on immigration. She said: "You have got people flooding into this country that can't speak English," and suggested that there should be pay stations in hospitals for immigrants and tourists to use.

Ash Sarkar responded by defending migrants and making the "human case" for immigration. She spoke of her grandmother coming to Britain and explained: "That's a human story that's got worth and it's got a value which cannot be valued merely in GDP."

This audience member said that people working in social care were not valued enough, adding: "We need to address the social care crisis."

A community nurse that was sat in the crowd talked about how reliant the social care system was on foreign nationals. She said it was "a scary thought that people like myself are going to be picking up the mess" if foreign nationals are discouraged from working in social care.

On the subject of Caroline Flack's death, Ash Sarkar called for better regulation of the press and compared it to regulation of tobacco companies.

In response, this participant said people should stop buying tabloids.

Changing the subject, this audience member said that while the death of Caroline Flack was sad, "We have hundreds and hundreds of veterans who are dying at their own hand every single year." He called for more support for these people.

Howard Davies called for a return to "civility" in the wake of Caroline Flack's death and questioned the lack of the "innocent until proven guilty" concept in this case.

George Eustice defended the government's response to Storm Dennis and talked about the 'Flood Response Centre'.

Despite admitting he owes most of his income to television, Michael Portillo said the BBC licence fee could not survive.

In a humorous exchange, an audience member questioned why presenters were paid "six and seven figure" salaries when many people are living on low wages. He remarked that "anyone in the audience could get up and present a programme brilliantly."

The Dorset Echo asked the BBC if it had received any complaints about last night's programme, however the BBC instead responded with the following statement: "Last night's Question Time included a debate about immigration which featured a broad range of views from the audience members and panellists. We posted five clips of people expressing their different views on the issue, including a panellist responding directly to the views of an audience member."