The number of council “fat cats” earning more than £100,000 has rocketed by a quarter in the past year, while families are left grappling with further hikes in council tax, according to new figures.

Some 818 local authority bosses broke through the six figure threshold last year, compared with 645 in 2005-6, the Taxpayer’s Alliance reported. Of these, 14 earned more than the Prime Minister’s £188,000 annual salary, while six raked in more than £200,000.

The report is likely to stoke public anger at a time when consumers are struggling to cope with rising living costs, with further pressure to come from an increase in council tax next month.

Ministers confirmed yesterday that council tax bills are to rise by an average of four per cent across England from April, continuing a 14-year trend of above-inflation increases.

Local government experts said the rises would have been higher were it not for the Government threat to intervene and veto any rises in budgets or council tax bills above five per cent, forcing authorities to cut services instead.

But many will be left wondering why local authorities have not similarly bowed to Gordon Brown’s demand for a two per cent cap on wage settlements in order to keep inflation down.

The pressure group’s Town Hall “Rich List” shows that top bosses enjoyed an average wage increase of 4.6 per cent. Salaries for the 818 on the list were typically over £120,000, almost five times the starting wage for a police constable.

The highest earner was Peter Gould, Northamptonshire’s police executive, who scooped a hefty £215,000 in 2006-7 before retiring in May. Not far behind was Kim Ryley, chief executive of Kingston-upon-Hull, on £213,162 including around £4000 in expenses.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, insisted such windfalls were unacceptable when many councils were failing 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.”

But John Ransford, deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association - representing more than 400 councils in England and Wales - said the report should be taken with “an immense dollop of salt”.

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