CORNWALL Council has been urged to show greater transparency after reports that some top staff enjoyed bumper pay packages of double the Prime Minister's salary.

Campaign group the TaxPayers' Alliance has also criticised the council for the level of windfalls paid out to departing staff, caused by the switch from district and county councils to single unitary authority.

According to a survey of local authorities across the country, the highest earner last year was an official in Cornwall who received at least £400,000, including bonuses and a pay-off. The sum is more than twice Gordon Brown's salary, estimated to be in the region of £180,000.

The figures, revealed in a Sunday newspaper, are also likely to provoke anger from hard-up taxpayers and rank-and-file council employees, against a backdrop of increased council tax, possible service cuts and potential job losses.

Matthew Sinclair, research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Local taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent and knowing who was paid what at the top of the council is a basic requirement of proper accountability. Pay at the top of councils needs to be brought under control."

The Sunday Times survey said the unnamed Cornwall executive, paid more than £400,000, was one of six senior officials in the county to receive lucrative pay-offs last year.

The unitary authority refused to identify the highest-paid official, but said the award followed the merger of six district councils and the county.

The largest of these, Liberal Democrat-controlled Cornwall County Council, was run by Sheila Healy. Reportedly on a salary of between £130,000 and £160,000, she took redundancy last year.

Ms Healy, 55, immediately walked into a new role at a council in Shropshire. She was unavailable for comment yesterday.

According to the newspaper, Cornwall County Council paid 16 officials more than £100,000 last year, compared with one person in 2004. A spokesman said the higher pay factored in severance packages because of the merger.

The announcement comes less than a month after Cornwall Councillors agreed a council tax rise of 2.9 per cent, as it bids to plug a financial black hole of £100 million by 2014.

The council has also announced plans to cut around 500 jobs, though it said most were likely to be through "natural wastage".

Mr Sinclair said the financial packages offered to top council staff would be "galling" for Cornish taxpayers.

He said: "With ordinary people in Cornwall struggling after the recession, it just isn't acceptable for staff at the council to be enjoying bumper packages.

"It is particularly galling to see staff doing so well with the switch to unitary status, which is supposed to drive efficiency and cut costs, not provide a windfall for officials.

"The fact that the council won't name the highest paid employee shows how vital it is that the Government stop their backsliding on council pay transparency," he said.