The great pay divide: Bosses and footballers 'earning 100 times what they're worth'

A poll revealed that many stars are earning up to 100 times what the public thinks they are worth.

Top footballers should earn only half the salary of the Prime Minister - and he takes home too much.

Scroll down for more ...

The YouGov survey of 3,000 Britons comes a day after Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe attacked the £ 130,000- a- week wages of Chelsea and England captain John Terry as "obscene" and "beyond the understanding of the man in the street".

It claims that 85 per cent of Britons believe the country would be a better place if the gap between the "fat cats" and the rest of the workforce was narrowed.

Tom Hampson, who co-wrote the research, said: "People believe that there should be fair rewards for people who do well, but that has to be combined with fair chances for everyone to get to that point."

The Fabian Society, a Left-wing think tank, commissioned the survey into what was a fair pay deal for various professions.

Scroll down for more ...

It found footballers should be paid £62,000 annually on average, some 100 times less than the current wages of top players such as Liverpool football club captain Steven Gerrard, Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Michael Ballack.

Respondents believed the Prime Minister should receive the highest salary but said Gordon Brown should be paid around £32,000 less than his £187,611 a year.

Managing directors and GPs would also receive a fraction of their current salaries if the public had its way - £120,000 and £70,000 a year respectively.

Last year, the top directors of FTSE 100 companies collectively earned £515million last year - comfortably exceeding the annual gross domestic product of holiday paradises such as the Maldives and Seychelles.

Scroll down for more...

Earlier this week, it emerged that the head of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, received £1million, despite the firm's huge losses.

Family doctors earn on average £113,600 per year, with some GP's salaries topping £250,000 annually.

Mr Hampson added: "If the gap between rich and poor becomes too wide, there is a danger of people living in totally different worlds.

"That is where the threat to society comes. Middle England will start to believe that those living in the cities are in a totally different universe. Acknowledging this unfairness in society is a challenge for Gordon Brown."

The research also showed that public sector workers, such as teachers and nurses, should earn more as should fast-food restaurant and supermarket staff.