58 of BBC's high earners are paid more than the PM

THE BBC paid 382 members of staff more than £100,000 in 2009, according to new figures.

Nearly a third of these high earners were paid more than 160,000 and 58 earned more than the Prime Minister's 194,250 salary.

The figures were revealed in a press report yesterday, just days after the director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, was questioned by MPs in the Public Accounts Committee over secrecy around how much the BBC pays individual stars.

The corporation's highest earners in 2009 were Mr Thompson, on 664,000, and Mark Byford, the deputy director general, on 471,000.

About half of those paid more than 100,000 last year earned up to 130,000; around a quarter earned between 130,000 and 160,000, and a third received 160,000 or more.

The BBC employs 20,000 staff across the UK, with an annual salary bill of 79 million.

A BBC spokesman said: "The BBC is extremely conscious about the public's feeling about top salaries in the current climate and that the salaries we pay are met by the public, but we have to balance that with the need to attract the best professional talent in order to produce the high-quality programmes and services licence fee payers expect."

The BBC Trust has agreed to place a three-year pay freeze on the corporation's top 20 earners, and a one-year freeze on the next 630 senior staff members.