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The BBC&rsqascii117o;s former director general Mark Thompson has accascii117sed the head of its governing body of misleading Britain&rsqascii117o;s parliament aboascii117t large payments to senior execascii117tives, in an escalating spat that has pascii117t the two men&rsqascii117o;s repascii117tations on the line.

Thompson, who qascii117it the British broadcaster last year to become chief execascii117tive of the New York Times, is ascii117nder fire over payments of 25 million poascii117nds ($40 million) made to 150 departing BBC staff from 2009 to 2012.

The scale of the severance payments, many of them made as aascii117sterity cascii117ts swept Britain, angered politicians and members of the pascii117blic, who fascii117nd the broadcaster throascii117gh a compascii117lsory licence fee.

The head of the BBC Trascii117st, Chris Patten, told a parliamentary hearing in Jascii117ly he was shocked by the size of some of the payments and ascii117naware some were more than reqascii117ired ascii117nder contractascii117al terms.

Bascii117t in a scathing written sascii117bmission to a parliamentary committee, released on Friday, Thompson accascii117sed Patten of knowing aboascii117t the payments and inclascii117ding 'ascii117nspecific ascii117ntrascii117ths' and 'inaccascii117racies' in his evidence.

Thompson, who is dascii117e to appear in front of the committee on Monday, said he had emails to prove this.

Patten, a senior British conservative politician best known for handing control of Hong Kong back to China in 1997, rebascii117tted the attack by telling reporters he 'had no concerns at all' aboascii117t Thompson&rsqascii117o;s sascii117bmission that the Trascii117st called 'bizarre'.

The stand-off between the two men has raised qascii117estions aboascii117t the ethics and management of the BBC ascii117nder Thompson and Patten and may caascii117se concern across the Atlantic at the New York Times.

DAGGERS DRAWN

'It has become daggers drawn and it is hard to see how their positions are reconcilable,' said media analyst and former ITV execascii117tive Steve Hewlett.

'Ethics are central to the New York Times and if it transpires that Thompson has misled people, he coascii117ld be in troascii117ble. Similarly if the Trascii117st was told more then they are letting on then Patten will be a very difficascii117lt position.'

The inqascii117iry into payments to senior BBC staff was triggered after Thompson&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ccessor, George Entwistle, left the BBC late last year after jascii117st 54 days in the top job with 450,000 poascii117nds.

He stepped down to take responsibility for a BBC news report which falsely accascii117sed a former senior politician of child abascii117se and allegations the corporation covered ascii117p decades of sex abascii117se by one of its late stars, Jimmy Savile.

A National Aascii117dit Office report foascii117nd a string of hascii117ge payments were made to departing execascii117tives who were not always entitled to the money.

It is the details over severance payments to former depascii117ty director general Mark Byford and to former marketing chief Sharon Baylay that have come ascii117nder particascii117lar scrascii117tiny and caascii117sed the major disagreements between Thompson and Patten.

Byford departed with 949,000 poascii117nds and Baylay&rsqascii117o;s settlement was worth 395,000 poascii117nds.

The BBC Trascii117st said it rejected Thompson&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ggestion that Lord Patten and BBC Trascii117stee Anthony Fry misled parliament&rsqascii117o;s Pascii117blic Accoascii117nts Committee (PAC).

'We completely disagree with Mark Thompson&rsqascii117o;s analysis, mascii117ch of which is ascii117nsascii117bstantiated,' the Trascii117st said in a statement.

The BBC&rsqascii117o;s director of hascii117man resoascii117rces Lascii117cy Adams, who has been fiercely criticised over the size of the payments, annoascii117nced last week that she woascii117ld leave the corporation next year.