BBC boss used licence fee to fly family home

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson used more than £2,000 of licence fee-payers' money to fly his family home from holiday after the row over the Andrew Sachs obscene phone calls, it was revealed today.

Mr Thompson cut short his family holiday in Sicily to return to Britain as public anger grew over the lewd messages left by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on the Fawlty Towers actor's answering machine.

The cost of flying his family home — £2,236.90 — was met by the BBC with the approval of the chairman of the corporation's audit committee.

Expenses claims made by the corporation's board were published today in what Mr Thompson described as a "significant advance in openness at the BBC", although full details of top stars' salaries remain confidential.

Notes on the claim for Mr Thompson's trip read: "The chairman of the audit committee of the executive board agreed that the expense of cutting a family holiday short would be met by the BBC in advance of the claim being made. The chairman of the BBC Trust was also informed."

On the same day as his family's flight back, 30 October last year, Mr Thompson also claimed £500 for hotel rooms in the towns of Siracusa and Ragusa in Sicily, where he is believed to have spent his holiday, and a further £206 for what is described in the accompanying notes as "holiday cut short".

He claimed £99.99 last year for a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée champagne, an 80th birthday gift for entertainer Bruce Forsyth, and spent £500 on a Christmas dinner for BBC executives in 2007.

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