Worcestershire County Council is paying out nearly £1 million a year in wages to its eight top bosses.

The highest earner at County Hall is chief executive Trish Haines who is on a salary bracket topping £183,725 a year.

Joint second highest is Eddie Clarke, director of adult and community services, and Gail Quinton, director of children’s services, who both earn up to £124,296 per annum.

Diane Tilley, director of planning, economy and performance, John Hobbs, director of environmental services, Mike Weaver, director of financial services, and Patrick Birch, director of corporate services, all take home up to £107,172 a year.

Richard Harling, director of public health, earns up to £100,446 but, according to the biographies of the senior managers published on the county council’s website, he also gets an extra £22,302 in supplements as well as a five per cent supplement for being on call.

His wages are paid jointly by Worcestershire County Council and NHS Worcestershire.

The total wage bill for all eight senior officers at County Hall, which needs to make savings of about £45 million by 2014, comes to £922,379, based on them earning the most in their salary range.

Mrs Haines, Ms Tilley, Mr Hobbs, Ms Quinton, Mr Weaver and Mr Birch also get an annual travel allowance of £795 but can also claim for mileage.

These details, which have been published alongside each senior manager’s biography on Worcestershire County Council’s website, comes at a time when Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to curb a “culture of excess” in senior public sector pay and bonuses.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is clear that the senior management at the county council are earning far more than most local taxpayers could ever hope for.

“Given the amount of money they need to save, the cuts at County Hall should start at the top.

“We are constantly told that councils pay a lot in order to get the best people, but they also spend plenty of money on management consultants to tell them how to do their job. The days of massive pay packets should be dead and buried.”

Mrs Haines said: “Our chief officers’ pay ranges are determined following independent advice and they are approved by a cross-party member panel.

“We believe the salaries of our chief officers to be fair and take into account the size and complexity of the organisation and budgets they are responsible for.”

She said the biographies and salaries had been published in a bid to be “open and transparent” with members of the public and inform people about their roles, the council and its functions.