London: The BBC spends over 2,000 pounds a year on biscuits and 32,500 pounds on flowers for the reception area, a media report said Sunday.
Citing information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the Sunday Express said that in total, BBC staffers claimed 200,000 pounds for ¬"internal hospitality" in 2009-10.
Questioned about this, a BBC spokesman said: "It is not possible to separate how much of this was just for chocolate digestives."
"This includes internal business entertainment, leaving parties and staff entertainment. Tea, coffee and soft refreshments are provided only for meetings which last longer than two hours or when external people are present," he said.
The daily said the BBC`s policy flouts National Audit Office guidelines which say biscuits should be limited only to "meetings to which external visitors are invited".
Emma Boon of the TaxPayers` Alliance, a pressure group, said: "The BBC is ¬abusing the public`s goodwill by -throwing their money down the drain."
IANS
