Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 breakfast show lost almost half a million listeners in the past year, according to figures.

Just weeks ago the presenter was named the highest paid star at the BBC in the corporation's annual report.

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show pulled in 9.01 million listeners a week in the second quarter of 2017, down from 9.47 million in the same time period in 2016, according to figures released by audience research body Rajar.

The star made between £2.2m and £2.25m in 2016/2017.

Lewis Carnie, head of Radio 2, told the Press Association: "Chris Evans remains hugely popular with the Radio 2 audience.

"His Breakfast Show attracts more than nine million listeners every week and remains the nation's favourite radio programme."

Nick Grimshaw's breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 gained over 350,000 listeners in the last quarter, drawing in 5.5 million weekly listeners in the second quarter.

It also shows an improvement on the 5.43 million listeners in the second quarter of 2016.

The station as a whole added nearly half a million listeners between April 3 and July 25, drawing 9.6 million people compared to 9.1 million last quarter.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme also saw a surge in listeners, with the news show pulling in 7.66 million a week in the second quarter, compared to 7.13 million in the first three months of the year.

The data shows the station's audience reached its highest level since current records began in 1999, with 11.55 million people listening every week, compared to 11.11 million last quarter.

Bob Shennan, director of BBC radio and music, said: "Radio 4 remains as vital as ever as it approaches its 50th anniversary.

"Hats off to all at Radio 1. Their half a million gain is a real boost and owes much to the hard work all the teams have put in to making the listening experience better than ever," he added.