EAST Lancastrians reacted with disbelief after the BBC revealed what it pays its stars.

‘Outrageous’ and ‘unbelievable’ were the most common opinions among people in Blackburn on the Beeb’s wage levels.

The Lancashire Telegraph took to the streets in search of a response among townsfolk to the wage revelations.

With wage levels in East Lancashire generally lower than the national average, it’s perhaps no surprise that the big names’ pay packets prompted criticism.

DJ Chris Evans topped the list with more than £2million, which dwarfs the pay packet of the corporation’s top-earning woman Claudia Winkleman.

Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker is the second-highest earner and is placed in the £1,750,000 to £1,799,999 bracket. He earlier revealed he had turned down higher pay offers from commercial broadcasters.

Winkleman is eighth in the list of highest earners, after Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, news reader Huw Edwards, broadcaster Steve Wright and presenter Matt Baker.

Only one third of the list of talent earning more than £150,000 are women, with the top names being men. Details of stars’ pay were revealed in £50,000 bands.

The top 10 includes just two women, Strictly Come Dancing and Radio 2 host Winkleman (£450,000-£499,999) and The One Show presenter Alex Jones (£400,000-£449,999).

Radio 2 breakfast DJ and former Top Gear host Evans took home between £2.2million and £2,249,999 in the 12 months to April 2017.

A year ago, the star admitted that he was overpaid, saying: “It’s not exactly breaking news that people who do what I do for a living get paid too much money .

“We’ve got a job that people would kill for. Most of us work part-time. Just pay us less, that’s what I would do, it’s not rocket science.”

BBC director-general Lord Hall defended the former Top Gear host’s pay.

“Chris Evans is presenting the most popular show on the most popular radio network in Europe,” he said.

“We do know that, for a number of presenters, they have been made offers by commercial radio.

“We’ve lost people, to Amazon and to other big players. Also, the choice for some of our talent is to go and do something completely different because they’re entertainers. That is the market we’re dealing with.”

There could be embarrassment for the presenters of flagship Radio 4 programme Today.

John Humphrys earns between £600,000 and £649,000 for the morning news programme and other work, including Mastermind.

Nick Robinson is on £250,000 to £299,000, ahead of female presenter Mishal Husain (£200,000 to £249,000), who also presents TV news for the corporation.

Graham Norton is listed as between £850,000 and £899,999, but as the list includes only cash from licence fee payers, that does not include his chat show, for which the BBC pays an independent production company, which in turn pays his salary.

The list reveals that newsreader and Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce earns between £350,000 and £399,000 but fellow news host Edwards is on £550,000 to £599,999.

The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg is on £200,000 to £249,000, below news presenter George Alagiah (£250,000-£299,000) and Radio 4’s PM host Eddie Mair (£300,000-£349,000).

Former Blackburn Rovers footballer Alan Shearer earns in the £400,000 and £449,999 bracket.