IT was a match made in heaven: the Director-General of the BBC and the former steelworker who became the leader of a North-East council.

Mark Thompson’s visit to the North-East came 24 hours after a political storm broke over BBC expenses.

The Beeb had admitted, under a Freedom of Information request, that it spends £54m a year on top-earning stars, but refused to reveal exactly what their salaries are.

Mr Thompson was hosting a breakfast meeting at Radio Tees on Thursday to talk about plans to give the BBC a greater commitment to the North.

I happened to be chatting with Councillor George Dunning, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, when Mr Thompson came in and introduced himself.

“So what’s this secrecy over expenses all about?” asked straight-talking George.

It had taken him less than ten seconds to go, Paxman-like, for the jugular.

“Well, it’s funny isn’t it,” replied the affable Director-General. “Here I am in Middlesbrough, staying at the Thistle Hotel – it’s hardly Las Vegas.”

“Well, there’s a Travel Lodge not far away,”

muttered George as Mr Thompson wandered away to grab a bacon butty.

THE discussion turned to Top Gear’s recent venture into Middlesbrough and the BBC boss revealed that he’d just received a text from Jeremy Clarkson. “Hi Mark. I’m in Australia and I wanted to apologise in advance for anything I might say,” it said.

READER John Barr, of Darlington, emailed to say how surprised he was to see my daughter and I pictured in the latest edition of the borough council’s monthly magazine, the Town Crier.

“As he’s so much against this publication, I thought he would have refused to have anything to do with it on principle,” Mr Barr wrote.

It’s a fair point which deserves an answer.

I was called by the Town Crier and asked to respond to the question: “What do you love about Darlington?”

Despite my public concerns about council magazines, I concluded that it would have been churlish to refuse.

My objections to council magazines are that they often compete unfairly with local newspapers for commercial advertising and that too many are politically biased.

I took the view that neither of those objections were compromised by agreeing to say why I love Darlington. I do love Darlington and I take every opportunity to say so.

As for my daughter, the truth is that I had no idea she was also featured in the magazine until she told me. She’d been walking through the town centre with two friends when they were asked the same question at random. She’s nearly 18 and is capable of making up her own mind.

Mr Barr added a PS to his email: “I bet this doesn’t get in the paper.”

He lost his wager – the letter appeared in Saturday’s Hear All Sides.

DURING a speaking engagement at the University of the Third Age in Middlesbrough, Ralf Rout, still going strong at 92, recalled a fellow Oxford undergraduate in the 1930s called Dennis Jones, who wrote a history of The Times.

During his research, Mr Jones came across the glorious misprint: “Queen Victoria waved as she pissed under Vauxhall Bridge.”