SNATCH OF THE PAY

Gary faces dosh squeeze

STARS including Gary Lineker and Chris Evans are facing wage cuts in the BBC equal pay row.

The broadcaster is set to reveal a “big, bold package of modernisation that will right the wrongs of the past”.

Match Of The Day host Lineker is paid around £1.75million while Top Gear flop Evans trousers a whopping £2.25m.

The Beeb is due to publish an audit today by accountancy firm PwC into the pay of its talent.

BBC Director General Tony Hall is to face questions by a committee of MPs tomorrow. But campaign group BBC Women, which includes around 170 female staff, said in a statement: “The timing of this is hardly a coincidence.

“It is the BBC trying to grab as many positive headlines as possible before everything comes out.

“But giving men pay cuts is not the same as equal pay, it’s a grand gesture which amounts to not very much at all.”

Critics fear that just a few high-profile men are being targeted by bosses and “regular” women workers at the BBC will continue to take home less than their male counterparts.

Some top male stars have already taken pay cuts, including Jeremy Vine, Huw Edwards, Nicky Campbell and John Humphrys.

The Beeb has been under pressure since journalist Carrie Gracie resigned her job as the BBC’s China editor in protest at its “secretive and illegal” pay culture.