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Mr Linum has spent more than three decades at the BBC where he has presented a number of sports broadcasts including Match of the Day and Grandstand. In 1999, he moved to ITV after receiving a “financial offer I couldn’t refuse”.

Mr Linham said the BBC had offered to raise his salary, but he was not morally agreeable.

The broadcaster told the Daily Telegraph: “The BBC offered to raise my money when I stayed, but I would have had bad conscience to charge all those old ladies their license fees and put the money towards my ridiculously high salary.

“ITV didn’t bother me because it was a business model. “

During his time at ITV, Mr Linum presented highlights from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League matches and the Euro 2004 football competition.

Des Linum admitted the BBC offered him a ‘ridiculously high salary’ (Image: GETTY)

The BBC is funded by royalty donors (Image: GETTY)

Explaining how he got the job, he commented: “The head of ITV and the head of ITV Sport both came to my house and the sports chief was carrying a briefcase.

“I said, ‘I hope it’s full of money,’ and he said, ‘Funny you say that.’

“It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I had some issues with the BBC at the time.”

The BBC is funded by a license fee, which must be paid for by anyone watching live TV, including online, in the UK.

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Des Linum has spent more than three decades with the BBC (Image: GETTY)

BBC stars continue to receive huge salaries, with Match of the Day host Gary Lineker earning £1.75 million in 2020, although he has since agreed to a 23% cut.

The government was considering de-criminalizing royalty-free over-the-air television, but that decision was postponed until at least 2022.

A color TV license costs £157.50 per household per year, or £53 for black and white only.

Those watching TV without a license can be fined up to £1,000 in addition to court costs.

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“It was an offer I could not refuse and I had some complaints with the BBC” (Image: GETTY)

The Defend the BBC campaign launched in 2020 (Image: GETTY)

People have already gone to jail for not paying this fine, although no one is in jail at the moment.

In exchange for money from royalty payments, the BBC must produce politically fair content.

However, critics argue that it fails to accurately represent all opinions.

In 2020, the Defend the BBC campaign was launched, accusing the company of “waste and bias”.

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He has already accumulated over 100,000 likes on Twitter and 32,000 on Facebook.

Earlier this year, the BBC announced a major change aimed at becoming less London-centric.

The BBC’s technical team will go to Glasgow, while the Climate and Science Unit will move to Cardiff.

The decision on non-payment of fees has been postponed until 2022 (Image: GETTY)

BBC Two’s flagship show Newsnight will be shown from across the UK instead of London, while Radio 4’s Today show will run outside the capital at least 100 times a year.

The BBC’s new managing director Tim Davey promised major reforms after taking over from Lord Tony Hall last year.

He argued that the changes would transform the BBC into “a true UK-wide organization” that would “play our part in supporting social and economic recovery”.