The BBC has been accused of censorship after presenters who expressed their support for equal pay were barred from covering the story of Carrie Gracie, the China editor who has resigned her post.

Gracie left her job in protest at being paid significantly less than Jon Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, and Jeremy Bowen, the Middle East editor. Bosses told her their jobs were “worth more”, she said.

Scores of BBC women and a number of men at the corporation tweeted their solidarity with Gracie after she wrote an open letter to licence fee payers.

But the BBC swiftly issued a “reminder” to staff, authorised by the news director, Fran Unsworth, saying they were bound by impartiality rules and could not report on the story if they had “expressed a view”.

It led to farcical scenes at Broadcasting House. Gracie had timed her statement to coincide with her stint as a presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme, but had to sit by her microphone in silence while John Humphrys spoke about her case.

An hour later, Gracie was allowed to discuss her situation on Woman’s Hour - but the show’s presenter, Jane Garvey, had to hand over to a non-BBC presenter drafted in to conduct the interview, because Garvey is a campaigner for equal pay.