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Campaign Group, the Tax Payers Alliance, says the number of staff receiving salaries of Β£50,000 or above being employed at Greenwich and Bexley town halls is well above the national average.

Greenwich is singled out as the sixth worst offending council in the country - with 264 members of their own staff earning over fifty thousand pounds a year. They claim this costs the Council nearly Β£17m in wages alone.

The Tax Payers Alliance said that with "council tax doubling in the past decade, it's extremely disappointing that town halls have chosen to hire a new class of middle managers."

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the Tax Payers' Alliance, said: β€œLondon’s councils spend millions on a new class of middle managers, whilst claiming that poverty means they have to cut services and raise taxes."

Frontline services

He said funding should be redirected to frontline services and said "it is disappointing that councils are actually splashing cash on middle managers when the money is sorely needed elsewhere."

A spokesperson for Bexley said the findings by the Tax Payers Alliance did not "provide an accurate comparison" of their position.Μύ They stated "the figure of 214 includes 120 staff in Schools which it appears have in some other authorities not been included in the figures."

Bexley suggest the actual number of staff receiving over fifty thousand pounds remuneration was 94, with only 6 of those earning over Β£100,000.

Local jobs

Greenwich council suggested the Tax Payers Alliance report failed to take account of those authorities that have outsourced service to private sector bodies.

A spokesperson said: "Greenwich has a policy of delivering services directly and promoting the employment of local people. As such we employ among the largest number of staff directly in London. This helps in the provision of local jobs for local people and is something we are very proud of."