£12,000 for Korea trip but BBC boss gives free camera to charity

BBC executives spent more than £12,000 of taxpayers' money on a trip to Korea, according to the latest figures on staff expenses revealed today.

The corporation's Director-General Mark Thompson spent £5,616 on a trip to Seoul in October with Erik Huggers, director future media and technology, whose flight cost £7,514.

During the trip to Korea, Mr Thompson was given a Lumix Panasonic digital camera which he donated to Children in Need.

Also among the high spenders was Richard Sambrook, director of BBC global news, who took a flight to Beijing costing £2,765 in October and a flight to San Francisco the month before for £4,990.

Despite the spending of licence fee payers' cash on flights, expenses claims by the executive board in the last quarter appear to have been curtailed after the outcry over what critics called the "culture of offensive excess" at the top of BBC.

The claims of Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, include £1,254 for a six-night stay in May at a Sunset Boulevard hotel in Los Angeles where she attended meetings with co-producers, studio heads and pilot screenings. She also claimed £422 for a table at the Royal Television Society awards in March.

In the last quarter, she has taken five £100-plus taxi journeys. They include two minicab trips on 10 September, one for £156 and the other for £139. She came under fire last June after it was revealed she spent more than £1,000 on champagne and flowers in eight months period in 2004. The BBC, for the first time, published a register of the gifts and hospitality received by its senior managers.

Mr Thompson and his wife were given free tickets to the Wimbledon Ladies Final in July and they were guests at Glyndebourne the same month.

In June, Mr Thompson and his son attended the British Grand Prix as guests of Formula 1, and earlier that month he and his wife were given passes to the Royal Box at Ascot. Mark Byford, deputy director-general was given complementary tickets to Wimbledon by the All England Lawn Tennis Club in July.

The highest claim by Tim Davie, director of audio and music, was £626 for registration for the Oxford Media Conference in January. He also claimed £190 for a meeting to discuss setting up the Radio Council.