The BBC has sent more than 300 staff to cover the T in the Park music festival in Kinross-shire this weekend, prompting further questions over its use of licence-fee payers’ money.

The corporation has sent 27 staff working for Radio 1 alone – and another 139 employees and 158 freelance contractors. They are providing coverage of the three-day festival, which ends today, for 10 television and radio channels and the BBC website.

Executives are already under fire for devoting excessive numbers of staff to favoured events. More than 400 BBC staff covered the Glastonbury festival last month, nearly as many as the corporation sent to the Beijing Olympics – despite television viewing figures averaging just 800,000.

The main attractions at the event at Balado, Perth and Kinross, which is now in its 15th year, include the Killers, Blur and Kings of Leon. It has drawn an estimated 85,000 fans.

The BBC is broadcasting 111 hours of television coverage of T in the Park – the same as Glastonbury – in addition to 20 hours of radio programmes.

Ted Brocklebank, the broadcasting spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said the resources being dedicated to the event were “ludicrous”. He added: “This is a very high number of staff to be sending to a pop concert, particularly at a time when the BBC is facing cuts in other areas of programming.”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “T in the Park is one of Scotland’s major annual public events and is our Glastonbury. It attracts huge crowds, is particularly popular with younger audiences and is a landmark event.”

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