Former England footballer Dion Dublin has benefited from training costing up to £50,000 from a BBC fund set up to make sure the broadcaster fully represents Britain, it was claimed last night.

The 47-year-old ex-Manchester United player made more than 600 league appearances during his 20-year career playing for a host of clubs including Norwich City, Aston Villa and Coventry City.

And after retiring as a footballer, the 6ft 2in striker and centre back went into television and received licence payers' money to train for his debut hosting Homes Under The Hammer, reports The Sun.

Dublin (right) became the property auction show's third presenter when he joined Martin Roberts (left) and Lucy Alexander (middle) last year

Former footballer: Dion Dublin was pictured yesterday out in London shopping with his partner

It means the former footballer, who earned four England caps, has reportedly been given the largest amount from the BBC's Diversity Creative Talent Fund.

He became the property auction show's third presenter when he joined Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander last year.

Insiders are said to be stunned that the money went to Dublin - who used to earn £20,000 a week - and not to younger people who could have presented the programme, the newspaper reports.

After playing football, Dublin worked in the media as a pundit for Sky Sports and also commented on a number of high-profile matches including Champions League ties.

He also co-presented 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live and football highlights show Match of the Day 2. In addition, Dublin is known for inventing a cube-shaped drum called The Dube.

Well-known in the sporting world: After playing football, Dublin worked in the media as a pundit for Sky Sports

Dion Dublin made 613 league appearances during his 20-year career, including 155 for Aston Villa (pictured)

A BBC spokesperson said: 'We’re proud the fund has helped develop a significant number of presenters, writers and producers from ethnic minority backgrounds to make sure that the BBC fully represents the UK.

'Money from the fund is used to support training and development of new talent – none has gone to Dion directly.'

In addition, the BBC has disputed the £50,000 figure, and insisted that the money was for training and development - rather than cash going to an individual.

On the BBC's Diversity page, it reads: 'Recognising the importance of diversity in everything we make provides us with a creative opportunity to better reflect our audiences and who we are through our output. It is about avoiding sameness to achieve authenticity onscreen.

'As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity we ask all independent producers to discuss with their commissioning editor how they plan to make their content and productions as diverse as possible, and to specify this in the editorial specification form.'