ANNE ROBINSON - BBC DENIES £10M ROBINSON RUMOURS

The BBC has denied that Weakest Link presenter Anne Robinson has reportedly been given a £10 million 'golden handcuffs' deal.

The Daily Mail had reported the 63-year-old presenter has agreed to continuing presenting the daytime quiz show until 2010 and would be required to shoot around 220 shows per year.

The newspaper claimed the show was to be moved from BBC2 to BBC1 as the corporation prepares for the loss of Australian soap Neighbours, the rights to which were snapped up by Five earlier this year.

But a BBC spokesman has issued a stern denial to the report, saying the story is "not true" and adding: "Everything in the Daily Mail is speculative.

"The BBC has not made the decision as to when Neighbours will come off the air and will continue well into next year," he continued.

The corporation last night told the newspaper: "The notion that we are paying Anne Robinson £10million is fanciful and has no basis in the truth."

Were the alleged contract to be confirmed, it would provoke the wrath of media watchdogs, coming in the wake of the BBC's announcement of up to 1,800 job cuts as a result of budget changes.

And if the reported amount is correct, it would fly in the face of the recommendations made by Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, who had claimed the corporation had been too "meek" in meeting the demands of its high-profile stars.

Sir Michael had said there was "real concern that the BBC might contribute to inflated fees and salaries by responding too meekly to demands, reflecting US realities rather than domestic values.

"It is important that the BBC does not use the privilege of a guaranteed income to overbid for talent thereby raising costs for the industry as a whole and reducing the value delivered to licence-fee payers," he added in a speech to the Royal Television Society earlier this month.