BBC Spends £1m on First-Class Rail Fares

The BBC stands further accused of squandering the TV licence fee, with news that it spent £1m on first-class rail fares between 2011 and 2014.

The figures, obtained by The Sun (and reported in the Mail on Sunday), reveal that 13,000 first-class rail tickets were purchased at an average cost of £73 each.

The bill for first-class rail tickets between London and Manchester more than doubled from £71,000 in 2010/11 to £160,000 the year after the Corporation's new Salford base opened. Spending on hotels in the area rocketed from £463,000 in 2008/09 to £1.8m in 2012/13.

During its first two years at Salford, BBC bosses ran up a hotel bill of more than £3.5m, while more than £300,000 was splashed out on first-class rail tickets.

Andy Silvester, a spokesman for the TaxPayers' Alliance, told the paper: "It's time to hit the brakes on this licence fee funded gravy train.

"The £145 TV tax is a big hit for hard-working families and the corporation shouldn't waste it."

Tory MP Rob Wilson said: "Far from keeping costs down and delivering maximum value for public money, the BBC has allowed spending on first-class rail and hotels to explode.

"Thousands of people’s licence fee payments are being eaten up by luxury travel between London and Salford, and hotels every year."

The BBC refused to disclose information about another 205,000 rail tickets claimed back by staff.