Bolton's Clive Myrie is among the BBC's highest-paid non-white presenters, earning more than £300k a year.

The BBC journalist earns between £310,999 and £314,000 a year, a far cry from the corporation's highest earner, Gary Linker's, salary of around £1,350,000 per annum.

The Farnworth-born Mastermind presenter joins 13 other non-white employees among the BBC's highest earners.

Myrie is a regular visitor to Bolton in his capacity as Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bolton.

Overall Zoe Ball, whose father Johnny Ball lived in Bolton is placed number two in the list of BBC's high earners as ranked by salary band of £950,000-£954,999 (down from £980,000-£984,999).

She was the highest paid woman.

(Image: Harriet Heywood)

Vernon Kay is ranked 14 with his salary band of £320,000-£324,999 (not listed in 2022/23).

(Image: PA)

Sara Cox is 16 with her salary falling in the £315,000-£319,999 band  (up from £285,000-£289,999).

Clive Myrie is 18th for his salary band.

Read more: Full list of BBC on-air salaries in 2023/24

This comes as fresh pay figures reveal the BBC’s gender pay gap has hit its highest level since 2017, increasing for the third consecutive year.

According to the latest annual report, the disparity between the median average hourly earnings of men and women stood at 7.9 per cent as of March 31, 2024, up from 7.3 per cent the previous year.

This figure had dropped to a low of 5.2 per cent in 2021, but has widened each year since.

The BBC claimed that this rise was a reflection of recent investments in technical and IT-related positions, roles typically taken up by more men than women.

Nonetheless, not every department saw a gender pay disparity.

The most junior career band even recorded a negative gap of -2.3 per cent, signifying that women in these roles earned more than their male counterparts on average.

Despite these examples, the current overall pay gap is the highest seen since 2017 when it was 9.3 per cent.

While above the corporation's numbers, the gender pay gap is still below the national median, which was 14.3 per cent in 2023 according to the most recent Office for National Statistics figures.

The BBC stated: "The rise in the gap continues to be predominately due to specific investments in pay over the past two years, including for critical talent in key roles in our technology and product areas, and for longer serving employees paid towards the bottom of their pay ranges."

In a breakdown of salary figures, the highest-paid woman in 2023/24 was Zoe Ball, presenter of the Radio 2 breakfast show, with earnings between £950,000 and £954,999.

Other female high earners include Fiona Bruce, DJ Lauren Laverne, and Naga Munchetty, placing them within the top 10 on-air salaries.

The representation of women in the top 10 salaries remains the same as the previous year, reflecting a continuous improvement since 2017-18, when no women were included.