LONDON - MULTI-MILLION pound pay deals for stars at the BBC in the future were 'extremely unlikely', BBC One controller Jay Hunt said on Saturday.

She told the Daily Telegraph that the public broadcaster was in a good position to drive hard bargains with celebrities in pay negotiations and that salaries such as the reputed 6 million pounds (S$14 million) for presenter Jonathan Ross would not be the norm.

'I would say it's extremely unlikely. I believe that part of what I am there to do is to be a custodian of value on the channel and I take that very, very seriously,' she said.

'My reputation...is as one of the stingiest women in television. In talent negotiations generally, we're in a better position than we've been for quite a long time, because the world is a different place.'

The BBC has faced a barrage of criticism over Ross' wages.

The chat show host is currently serving a three-month suspension without pay for his part in leaving obscene messages on the phone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

Ross and fellow presenter Russell Brand left messages on the actor's mobile phone joking that Brand had slept with Georgina Baillie, Sachs's 23-year-old granddaughter.

Brand resigned from his Radio 2 show after the BBC was deluged with more that 40,000 compliants.

After an investigation, the BBC's supervisory body later said the calls were 'so grossly offensive' they should never have been broadcast, but did not call for Ross to be sacked. -- REUTERS