Council bosses' pay under attack

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Some 818 local authority bosses crested the pay threshold last year, compared with 645 in 2005-6.

Fourteen earned more than the Prime Minister Gordon Brown's £188,000 annual salary, while six received more than £200,000 from the public purse.

The figures - compiled by pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance - are bound to cause fury at a time when consumers are feeling the pinch from an economic downturn and rising living costs. Government data revealed that council tax bills are set to rise by 4% this year - well above the 2.5% inflation rate.

Gordon Brown has demanded a 2% cap on wage settlements in order to keep inflation down, but the Town Hall "Rich List" shows that top bosses enjoyed an average rise more than double that last year - 4.6%.

The average pay package for the 818 on the list was more than £120,000 - nearly five times the starting wage of a police constable.

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott insisted such pay bonanzas were not acceptable when councils failed to deliver value for money.

"Too often, council executives are rewarded handsomely even when they fail," he said. "Families and pensioners are struggling with the demands of yet another council tax rise, and councils owe it to them to cut back on executive pay hikes."

The TaxPayers' Alliance used freedom of information laws to request details of senior officials' earnings from more than 450 councils across the UK.

The best paid was Northamptonshire's chief executive Peter Gould, who scooped a whopping £215,000 in 2006-7. He retired last May. Hot on his heels was Kingston-upon-Hull chief executive Kim Ryley, on £213,162 including some £4,000 in expenses. Kensington & Chelsea town clerk Derek Myers was paid £205,000, according to the list.