Seat size

The Telegraph's Neil Midgley has joined the debate about 1st Class fares at the BBC, pointing out that the Chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, spent £4,501 on the wide seats last year.  The Trust's expenses guidelines do not explicitly ban first class travel (as rules do for BBC staff) but say that it's ok for journeys of over four hours.

Sir Michael claimed 8 return tickets between London and his home, Birmingham (journey time average 1 hours 25 minutes) and 15, more expensive, single journeys - all 1st Class.  A taxi, average fare £22, ferried him to and from the station at Birmingham.  He also claimed six single journeys between London and Totnes - journey average 3 hours - where there were occasional taxis in Devon at around £20, perhaps to go to a Lyons' second home or holiday cottage. There were fewer London taxis claimed, as Sir Michael had call on a BBC car and driver in the capital, costed at £13,492.78 for the year. There were two mileage claims, presumably when Sir Michael used one of his own cars - one for £12.80, which seems rather large, for "Home to Birmingham Station", and one for £4.80 for "Home to Totnes Station".