BBC uses licence fee money to pay the legal bills of human resources boss suing journalists' union for libel Lucy Adams suing National Union of Journalists over hacking allegations She earns £320,000 a year - yet the BBC has agreed to pay her legal bills It is not the first time the broadcaster has funded legal costs of executives Taking action: Lucy Adams, BBC head of human resources, is taking suing a trade union which accused her of running a 'dirty tricks' campaign The BBC has admitted spending the licence fee on lawyers to defend the reputation of its controversial human resources head. Lucy Adams, who earns £320,000 a year, is taking legal action against a trade union which accused her of running a "dirty tricks" campaign at the corporation. She is set to leave the BBC in the spring after being accused of "corporate fraud and cronyism" in the severance payoff scandal. But she said accusations by the National Union of Journalists that she hacked into staff emails and bullied employees into spying on employees were "highly defamatory" and "false and without foundation." She later revealed she had instructed libel lawyers to "take matters further" and seek damages for defamation from the NUJ. Last night, it emerged the BBC had agreed to pay her legal bills, prompting fury from MPs. In a response to a Freedom of Information request, the BBC told the Independent newspaper: "As the NUJ article made serious and damaging allegations against Lucy Adams in her role as the BBC's director of human resources, the BBC has agreed to fund the reasonable costs of Miss Adams seeking external legal advice." The BBC said Miss Adams could receive further financial support if she decided to proceed further with any legal action. It said: "The funding currently covers the provision of legal advice to Miss Adams prior to the issue of proceedings and her lawyer's costs must be approved by the BBC in advance in incremental caps, with an explanation of the work that needs to be undertaken." Tory MP Stewart Jackson, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, said: "The BBC seems to have learned nothing from the recent exposure of its largesse and profligacy with license fee-payers cash and culture of corporate greed and cronyism. If this is the case, I will press for the senior management and Trust Board to return to the public accounts committee and fully account for this inappropriate expenditure. Not the first time: The BBC also contributed towards legal costs of its former director of news Helen Boaden, left, and for personal lawyers and public relations advisers for former director general George Entwistle, right It is not the first time the BBC has provided licence fee money to pay for senior executives to defend their personal reputations. During Nick Pollard's review of the BBC's handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the corporation spent £101,000 of the total £2.4million cost on paying the "legal and related costs" of embattled director of BBC News Helen Boaden, despite the fact she was heavily criticised in the report. The BBC also paid personal lawyers and public relations advisers for its former director general, George Entwistle, when he quit his job over the Savile and Lord McAlpine scandals.