Big BBC personalities have been summoned by bosses and warned they face pay cuts of up to 40%.

Popular names such as Sir Terry Wogan, Jeremy Clarkson and Chris Moyles are understood to have been among the names who attended a meeting lead by director general Mark Thompson, this morning.

It is not known if any BBC Asian Network DJs were present.

It seems that BBC TV and radio personalities earning more than £100k will have their salary reduced by 25-40% when their contracts come up for renewal.

The BBC is already making efficiency savings of £1.9bn and needs to find a further £400m of "painful" cuts.

A BBC spokesman said, "No organisation is immune from the economic climate and we have to find substantial savings."

"Talent fees are not excluded from the economic pressures faced across the organisation and these will be reflected in our ongoing negotiations."

A report by the BBC Trust in March said in some cases stars were getting paid less than they would receive elsewhere, and added that the top 30 to 40 stars across all TV and radio each earned more than £1m a year.

But it said the BBC should "walk away" from stars who are too expensive.

Extracts from Sky News and BBC