BBC takes advice on clawing back pay-off

The BBC Trust has taken legal advice to establish whether it has any financial claims against former director-general George Entwistle after he corrected his evidence to the Pollard inquiry.

Reading East Conservative MP Rob Wilson had written to the trust’s chairman, Lord Patten, asking whether it would be able to claw back any of the £450,000 pay-off as a result of the inaccuracy initially given to the investigation sparked by the Jimmy Savile crisis.

Mr Entwistle has corrected the evidence about when he was made aware of an ITV documentary which made claims about Savile’s sexual abuse.

A spokeswoman said yesterday: “The trust has asked its legal advisers to consider whether it may have any claims.”