BBC executives claimed expenses totalling £173,527.04 over a three-month period, according to quarterly figures published by the corporation yesterday.
Erik Huggers, BBC Technology boss, submitted a bill for £646.79 for a chauffeur-driven car during a trip to South Korea, reports the Independent.
The BBC also spent £3,561 on a month-long hotel stay for the Radio 3 controller Roger Wright during last year’s annual Proms festival.
The expenses figures relating to claims between September and December last year come as the BBC revealed that its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, spent £6,000 on a return flight from Australia for the director general, Mark Thompson.
A BBC spokesman said Wright’s hotel costs were unavoidable as he did not live in London and attended every Prom of the season, including the late-night Proms that started at 10pm.
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And the corporation said of Thompson’s Australia trip: “This flight was business class. The cost was fully paid by BBC Worldwide as part of a trip to visit Worldwide businesses in Australia, so no licence fee funds were used.”
The BBC has been publishing quarterly expenses since last year in a bid to create a more transparent organisation. In the period between July and September, the 107 most senior executives spent £188,284 on travel, hotels and meals.
