‘CRAZY’ rewards for council chiefs have been slammed after it was revealed that Hyndburn chief executive David Welsby’s pay has risen seven per cent to a whopping £110,000.

Mr Welsby’s £600 a month salary hike – paid out of the public purse – was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which has blasted "morally indefensible" salaries.

His 2007/8 pay, including a car allowance of £2,365, was set by a cross-party group of Hyndburn councillors, and the rise is nearly four times the 1.9 per cent received by most council employees.

Both main parties claim Mr Welsby is worth every penny, but MP Greg Pope claimed the revelations would "anger" the Hyndburn public.

Mr Pope said: "I think David Welsby is doing a fine job but I just think that while the low paid at Hyndburn Council are going to be on a two per cent pay rise it’s hard to justify someone on a seven per cent rise.

"The issue is one of fairness. We are in the middle of a recession and people are angry about things like MPs’ expenses and we all need to be showing some restraint."

Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe said Mr Welsby had helped secure hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment in the borough and the "excellent" job he was doing was shown by the Audit Commission improving the council’s rating from ‘fair’ to ‘excellent’.

He added: "If you look at the salaries that chief executives are getting you will see that David’s salary is well within the range and all that increase did was bring him in line with others.

"Personally, I think people’s salaries are something that is quite private. I’m not sure that we are entitled to know David Welsby’s salary."

And Labour’s finance spokesperson Councillor Clare Pritchard said: "I fully support David Welsby and stand fully behind him and the job that he does.

"We are in a competitive market for chief executives and he has done an exceptional job and long may he continue being chief executive of Hyndburn Borough Council."

Eight Lancashire County Council officers also took six-figure salaries last year, headed by chief executive Chris Trinick on £192,342 prior to his replacement by Ged Fitzgerald.

Mr Pope said: "I like Ged Fitzgerald but it is craziness from Lancashire County Council that the chief executive is paid more than the Prime Minister, who has got his finger on the nuclear button and is chairing the G20."

County Council leader Hazel Harding said the Audit Commission recently gave the county council the highest possible grade for handling of taxpayers’ money.

She said: "We are the fourth largest council in the country, with an annual budget of more than £715M and more than 43,000 employees.

"To attract the best candidates, our salaries need to compare to parts of both the public and private sectors. It is important that we have high quality senior directors to provide strong local services for our 1.3 million residents."