Teletext: Council boss wages condemned

A growing class of town hall middle managers on £50,000 a year are eating up an increasing chunk of council tax, says the TaxPayers' Alliance.

Local authorities across the UK employ an average of 66 people on such wages - more than nine times the 1997 average of just seven employees.

The average council spent more than £4m on these staff in 2006-07 - the equivalent of £1 in every £11 raised.