Chris Moyles has admitted that he isn’t happy about receiving a pay cut this year, but accepts that it was a necessary move.

Moyles told The Mirror: “I have taken a cut because they wanted me to take a cut. And hopefully that will help the BBC out a little bit. Everyone is taking a cut. It is very frustrating but budgets are down.

“I don’t like the fact that I am earning less than I was two years ago and I don’t think I deserve to be, because we’re working harder and the figures are up. But, at the same time, if the BBC are saying, ‘Help us out, take a cut for a bit’, then that’s fine.”

He added: “They have been very good to me. I have always loved Radio 1 and I want to do the show and they want to pay me less money, so clearly we had to come to some agreement.

“It’s not really about the money to me but, at the same time, you have to play the game. I’m sure Radio 1 would bite my arm off if I said, ‘Don’t pay me for a year, I will do it for free’. They would probably say, ‘Thanks very much’. But I can’t do it for free.”