Outrage over Alan Yentob's £27,000 BBC expenses claim... including a £120 cake

The controversial executive is awarded thousands of pounds of licence-fee payers' money each year for a range of items – including "dry cleaning", "evening dress" and "accessing email while on location".

Mr Yentob, whose basic salary is more than £300,000 a year, also filed a £120 claim for a single cake and £25 for repairing the DVD player in his BBC car.

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In total, the BBC – which recently sacked 2,000 staff due to budget cuts – paid him £27,300 over the past three years – including £16,830 for "entertainment", which included meals with celebrities and dinners for BBC staff.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: "Licence fee payers will be dismayed by these incredible figures.

"There is a gilded elite at the top of the BBC who can claim salaries and expenses as if they were hedge fund managers.

"We should now see the expenses of other senior BBC executives to see if they are being equally wasteful with our money."

In 2004, Mr Yentob's expenses were investigated after he was accused of ferrying his partner and children around in chauffeur-driven BBC cars.

He was the subject of an internal probe that concluded he took "insufficient care over some aspects of his affairs".

Last year, it was revealed that Mr Yentob, who presents the arts series Imagine on BBC1, had claimed more than £1,500 for a Christmas lunch for fellow BBC executives.

Now BBC documents, obtained under freedom of information laws for the first time, reveal the full extent of his largesse.

In 2007, the 61-year-old claimed £743.23 for "discussions" and £35 on "evening dress".

Dozens of meals are listed on his bills, including a £90 lunch with an "opinion former" and £3.35 for a "snack".

Perhaps his most bizarre claims came in 2006 when he was paid back a total of £14,000 – £1,200 of which went on taxis.

That was when he claimed the £120 for a cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the BBC drama Pride And Prejudice and £11 on a Cat Stevens CD for "research".

He also filed £20 for pre-matinee drinks at the hit musical Spamalot and £166 for theatre tickets as he was "thinking of doing the play for TV".

Other claims include £285 on a "present" for "finalising a contract with talent", £40 for dry cleaning and £20 for the email access on location.

On the other hand, Mr Yentob – who lives in a £3million house in London's Notting Hill and enjoys a £2.5million gold-plated BBC pension – is clearly not averse to claiming back loose change.

He received 24p for a phone call, 67p for a "prop" used in "filming a sequence for Imagine" and £1.69 for a single cab journey.

In 2002, this newspaper revealed Mr Yentob hosted a glittering showbiz party at his mock-Tudor mansion in Somerset – leaving licence-fee payers to pick up the bill.

Last night, ex-Labour Minister Peter Kilfoyle said: "It is fine for BBC journalists to call for transparency in MPs' expenses but that should extend to all paid by the public.

"There is a culture of secrecy in the BBC, reminiscent of Whitehall at its most opaque."

A BBC spokesman said: "We have very strict guidelines on expenses and every member of staff's claims are analysed to ensure they adhere to them.

"Alan makes and presents arts programmes that cover a wide range of topics, many involving international figures, which includes a degree of travel and research."