BBC stars told to expect 40 per cent salary cuts

Dozens of BBC stars have been warned by the Corporation to expect large cuts in their salaries, it was disclosed today.

Around a hundred, including Jeremy Clarkson, Terry Wogan, Jo Brand, Lenny Henry, Bruce Forsyth and John Inverdale, were summoned to Television Centre on Monday night for a meeting with director-general Mark Thompson which was described as a "wake-up call" to those negotiating contracts in coming months.

The mood in the room was described as "grim".

Corporation sources say those on the very highest salaries are likely to face cuts of up to 40 per cent, while those earning about £100,000 would see their pay reduced by about 25 per cent.

The meeting followed warnings by senior BBC figures that cutbacks would have to be made due to public outrage at salary excesses and the wider economic climate.

Last week BBC 1 Controller Jay Hunt signalled that Jonathan Ross's reported £6million-a-year contract was "not immune" although the Corporation has not confirmed speculation it could be halved.

Two days later, the Commons public accounts committee attacked high pay levels for BBC presenters, as well as the secrecy that surrounds their contracts.

Also present on Monday to hear Mr Thompson spell out the BBC's difficult financial position were Alan Yentob, the BBC's creative director, and Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision.

Ross and two other highly paid presenters, Graham Norton and Radio One's Chris Moyles, were not.

There was said to have been a mood of resignation among the stars.

One was quoted as saying: "Some of us are in very difficult contract renegotiations right now. No one was left in any doubt what they were getting at."

Another said it was "churlish" to moan, adding: "Many people will take the line: 'Keep me on, I'll take a pay cut to keep up my public profile. The thing is that no one is on the breadline."

A BBC spokesman said today: "No organisation is immune from the economic climate and we have to find substantial savings. Talent fees are not excluded from the economic pressures faced across the organisation."

In March, Mr Thompson warned staff the Corporation had to find £400million in budget cuts over the next three years or risk breaching its statutory borrowing limit.

The BBC has cut 7,200 jobs over the past four and a half years.