BBC staff and licence fee-payers’ representatives have condemned the expenses claimed by the corporation’s top executives, published in response to Freedom of Information requests.

The claims range from a total of £2,999.90 for curtailing the Italian family holiday of Mark Thompson, director-general, when he had to return home in an emergency, to a 24p mileage charge for attending a meeting, claimed by the BBC’s then director of new media, Ashley Highfield, whose annual salary is £466,000.