Jonathan Ross's crude phone call is set to cost the presenter £1.5million.

The vulgar prank on veteran actor Andrew Sachs has landed him a three-month ban from the BBC on no pay... a whopping £125,000 a week.

However, the corporation was today hoping Ross's suspension and the resignation of the Radio 2 boss would draw a line under the scandal.

Ross has been banned from his TV and radio shows until mid-January, and warned he must never bring the BBC into disrepute again.

Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas stepped down after taking responsibility for broadcasting the calls to the 78-year-old Fawlty Towers star.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson said Ross's contribution to the Russell Brand show was "utterly unacceptable" and there would be "tight discipline" in future.

He said: "A 12-week suspension is an exceptional step, but I believe it is a proportionate response. Nothing like this must ever happen again and tight discipline will be required for the future."

Further slips by Ross would not be tolerated, Mr Thompson added.

"Jonathan absolutely overstepped the mark. It doesn't mean he can't, in future, continue to broadcast for the BBC.

"But he and everyone else should accept this is a final warning."

Commenting on the loss of Ms Douglas, Mr Thompson said "ultimate responsibility" for such incidents lay with "executive producers, producers and controllers".

"The consequences of errors of judgment are therefore more serious for managers," he said.

Ms Douglas, who has revived Radio 2 by attracting a new audience of 30-somethings, said it was right she took "responsibility" for the calls and the decision to resign was hers alone.

She said: "It is a matter of great sadness to me a programme on my network has been the cause of such a controversy."

She was a popular figure and her resignation will disappoint many people within the BBC.

Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans was visibly upset last night as he described Douglas as "the best boss in the world".

Evans, though, said everyone at the station understood the severity of what's gone and added: "Andrew Sachs doesn't want to be 78 years old and remembered for this, he wants to be remembered for what he did brilliantly."

Ms Douglas's resignation and Ross's ban came after Mr Thompson met with the BBC Trust to discuss the crisis over the phone calls made during Russell Brand's show on October 18.

Ross and Brand left messages saying Brand had slept with Sachs' granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, and the actor might kill himself after finding out about it.

More than 35,000 complaints flooded into the BBC, and the DJs have both apologised to Sachs.

The BBC Trust has ordered Radio 2 to broadcast an apology and said editorial controls must be strengthened.

It was "dismayed" by the "offensive comments" which "fell so far short of audiences' expectations" and represented "an abuse of the privilege given to the BBC to broadcast to its audiences".

Brand quit his Radio 2 show on Thursday, saying he took "complete responsibility" for the calls which he blamed on getting "caught up in the moment".