Norton criticises huge BBC pay-offs

TV star Graham Norton has hit out at the BBC over giant pay-offs given to his former bosses.

The BBC1 chat-show host complained that the severance payments — which included £470,000 (€550,000) to former BBC director-general George Entwistle after only 54 days in the job and £680,000 to former chief operating officer Caroline Thomson — had been an “own goal” for the corporation.

Norton, 50, who earned £2.61m last year through his production company So Television, told the Radio Times it “defies belief” that former bosses had received large pay-outs while BBC staff were making do with less.