Scott Mills was highest paid BBC star before sacking

DJ Scott Mills was the highest paid presenter at the BBC before he was sacked earlier this year, according to the corporation's annual report.

The 53-year-old was paid around £745,000 for hosting the Radio 2 breakfast show until his exit in March, when it emerged he had been accused of historical sexual offences. Mills co-operated with a police investigation and was not charged.

Other top earners at the BBC last year included Greg James, Stephen Nolan, Laura Kuenssberg, Vernon Kay and Alan Shearer, but Gary Lineker dropped significantly after leaving two months into the financial year.

The latest annual report also shows the number of TV licences in force dropped by 539,000 during the last financial year.

In total, the number of TV licences has dropped by two million in the past five years - from 25.3m in 2020-21 to 23.3m last year.

The annual salaries list is far from a complete picture of what top talent at the BBC earn, as the corporation only publishes the names of stars it pays directly.

A large number of household names, such as Claudia Winkleman, Michael McIntyre and Graham Norton, are missing from the list because they are paid via production companies.

As Mills was sacked by the BBC just a few days short of the financial year ending, the £745,000 listed in the annual report represents almost his full annual salary.

That includes his tenure on the Radio 2 breakfast show as well as other BBC work, including several editions of Scott & Rylan's Pop: Top 10 podcast.

Sara Cox recently took over as the host of Radio 2's breakfast show, with the BBC yet to announce who will permanently replace her at teatime on the station.

In March, it emerged that Mills had been accused of serious sexual offences involving a teenager under 16 in the late 1990s.

A police investigation was launched in 2016, which Mills said he "fully co-operated" with, before it was closed in 2019 after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.

Mills's salary in his final year was a significant increase on the £355,000 he earned in the previous financial year, when he hosted Radio 2's afternoon show for 10 months and the breakfast show for two.

His predecessor at breakfast Zoe Ball was paid more than £1.36m during her first year presenting the Radio 2 breakfast show in 2019.

However, Ball's salary reduced over the six years she was on breakfast, and she earned just over £950,000 on her final full year in the job.

That means the BBC saved about £200,000 when it replaced Ball with Mills. Ball no longer appears on the list and recently left Radio 2 for Greatest Hits Radio.

For the last six years, Ball and former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker have topped the star salaries list, but both exited their respective shows last year.

Lineker left the BBC last summer after sharing an Instagram reel that featured an antisemitic illustration, for which he apologised. He has gone on to sign new contracts with ITV and Netflix.

His former role on Match of the Day was split when he left and the show is now hosted by three presenters, who are individually paid significantly less than Lineker was.

Mark Chapman was paid around £335,000, Gabby Logan made £290,000, and Kelly Cates earned £215,000 - considerably lower than Lineker's £1.3m even when combined.

However, all of the new trio's salaries represent a wide variety of sports presenting work across the BBC, not just Match of the Day.

Laura Kuenssberg's salary increased slightly this year, taking in her Sunday morning programme and Weekend Newscast, as well as a weekly column on the BBC News website.

On the Radio 4's flagship Today programme, Justin Webb is now the highest paid presenter, earning around £375,000 for hosting that and Americast.

Nick Robinson's salary dropped by about £80,000, in a year that saw the Today podcast, which he co-hosted, come to an end.

As usual, the star salaries list does not provide the complete picture of what top talent at the BBC earn.

Hundreds of big names are not listed because they are paid via production companies, rather than by the BBC directly.

As a result, stars such as Claudia Winkleman, Michael McIntyre, Graham Norton, Rylan Clark and Stacey Solomon are just a few of the major stars who don't have their salaries published.

Alex Jones, Romesh Ranganathan, Lord Sugar, Bradley Walsh, Paddy McGuinness, the Strictly judges and the Dragons' Den investors are also absent from the list.

The remaining names on the list are celebrities and executives who are paid directly by the BBC above the £178,000 threshold.

Meanwhile, some stars who do appear are listed only for some of their BBC work.

Fiona Bruce, for example, made this year's top 10 after earning £345,000 for Question Time and news bulletins, but not for hosting Antiques Roadshow.