PAY packages worth more than £100,000 were doled out to 11 Blackburn with Darwen Council staff in 2016/17.

The figures were revealed as part of the 11th annual Town Hall Rich List compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

As well as salary, remuneration packages can include benefits in kind, expenses, bonuses, redundancy payments and employer’s pension contributions.

Blackburn with Darwen ranked 50th out of 433 local authorities across the country, with two workers getting a bumper package of more than £150,000 last year.

In 2015/16, only eight workers had received more than £100,000 in remuneration from the council.

According to the figures, chief executive Harry Catherall took home £182,000 with £163,000 in salary and £19,000 of employer pension contributions.

And deputy chief executive Denise Park received £135,00 in salary as well as a further £16,000 in pension payments.

Packages of more than £150,000 were given to 558 council employees UK-wide.

There were at least 2,306 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000. This is 60 fewer than the previous year.

There were 77 councils with at least 10 employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000. 

Director of children’s services, Linda Clegg, director of public health, Dominic Harrison, Director of HR, legal and corporate services, David Fairclough,  and director of environment and leisure, Martin Eden, are among those receiving six-figure packages.

A Blackburn with Darwen Council spokesman said the two remuneration packages over £150,000 were only because of pension payments.

And the spokesman added £13,000 of the chief executive's package, as well as £7,000 of the deputy chief executive's remuneration, was made up of election fees which are refunded by the Government.

Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley Councils all had two employees receiving more than £100,000 and no-one getting more than £150,000.

Rossendale and Chorley Councils both had one worker getting more than £100,000 and no-one on more than £150,000.

Lancashire County Council had 13 employees on more than £100,000 and three getting more than £150,000.

TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive John O’Connell said:  “The average council tax bill has gone up by more than £900 over the last twenty years and spending has gone through the roof.

“Disappointingly, many local authorities are now responding to financial reality through further tax rises and reducing services rather than scaling back top pay.

“There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions about efficiency and priorities.”