BLACKBURN with Darwen Council gave six serving senior town hall staff total pay packages worth more than £100,000 a year in 2019/2020 - a drop of one on the previous year.

But it also gave a £130,000 pay-off to retired chief executive Harry Catherall.

Lancashire County Council paid 11 people more than £100,000 in 2019/20, no change from 12 months earlier.

Hyndburn Council has two high-paid staff - its chief executive David Welsby on a total of £123,103 and his deputy Jo McIntyre on £106,897.

Burnley Counil had just one £100,000-plus employee, chief executive Mick Cartledge, who took home £120,013 in pay and expenses.

Ribble Valley Council paid chief executive Marshal Scott £126.438 in salary and expenses.

Pendle Council paid just one officer more than £100,000 - chief executive Dean Langton with £104,740 in wages and expenses.

The figures are in The Taxpayers Alliance annual Town Hall Rich List 2021, which records no figures for Rossendale Council.

It reveals that at least 2,802 people employed by UK local authorities in 2019-20 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, an increase of 135 on 2018-19.

The serving officers at Blackburn with Darwen Council with packages of pay and expenses of more than £100,000 are chief executive Denise Park on £155,000; growth programme director Martin Kelly, £115,000; director of public health and wellbeing Professor Dominic Harrison, £115,000; children’s services and education director Jayne Ivory, £113,000; adult services and prevention director Sayyed Osman, £112,000; and human resources, legal and governance director David Fairclough, £103,000.

Cllr Phil Riley, the council’s deputy leader, said: “These figures once again reveal Blackburn with Darwen is a very well-run authority delivering effective services and value for money. It seems a very odd moment for The Taxpayers Alliance to put out this when council staff have spent the last 12 months working so hard and for such long hours because of coronavirus.”

Cllr Miles Parkinson, leader of Hyndburn Council, said: “Our chief executive and his deputy are very experienced and capable officers and paid accordingly.”

At Lancashire County Council, the highest paid officer was chief executive Angie Ridgwell, whose basic salary increased by almost £10,000 to £216,000 in 2019/2020.

Among the other senior staff in the top pay bracket were education and children’s services executive director Edwina Grant, who took home £142,542.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, the authority’s director of public health received £127,352.

The deputy leader of Lancashire County Council, Cllr Keith Iddon, said: “These people have gone above and beyond what could have been expected of them and have done a marvellous job in keeping Lancashire as safe as possible and looked after the residents.

“Because we have turned the council’s finances around, we had funds to buy PPE for the care sector and money to lend to businesses to keep them secure. This is what people of that calibre can achieve.

“If this was a business turning over nearly £1billion a year, the top management would be on five times those salaries.”

John O’Connell, chief executive of The Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers facing huge and hated council tax rises want to know they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.

“At the onset of the coronavirus crisis, thousands of town hall officials were taking home huge sums. While councils were tackling the pandemic, many staff will have more than earned their keep, but households have nevertheless struggled with enormous council tax rises.”