FIVE Wiltshire Council employees earned more than £100,000 last year, according to the latest figures.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance has released its annual Town Hall Rich List, which looks at the salaries of council officers from across the country in the 2015/16 financial year.

It shows that during that period, the council’s three corporate directors, Carolyn Godfrey, Carlton Brand and Maggie Rae, earned more than £170,000, while another two unnamed senior bosses pocketed more than £100,000.

Mrs Rae has since left the council without replacement, meaning there is a vacant corporate director post.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “The people who earn these salaries are responsible for multi-million pound budgets in a highly complex organisation.

“To attract and retain the best and brightest people to deliver value for money you have to pay a suitable wage.

“Wiltshire Council’s pay policy set annually by elected members is to pay staff at all levels the average pay of public sector bodies at that level.

“When senior salaries in the private sector are compared to senior salaries in the public sector, the taxpayer gets very good value for money.

“Wiltshire Council uses its resources wisely and is committed to continually improving how it performs and delivers its services.

“Since becoming a unitary authority in 2009, Wiltshire Council has made a significant reduction in the number of managers in the organisation, which has delivered year-on-year management savings of more than £8m.

“Further savings will be met through continual review and evaluation of the number of managers and senior roles required.”

The figures include salaries, expenses and pension contributions.

Wiltshire Council axed its highest earner, £183,000-a-year chief executive Andrew Kerr, plus corporate director Mark Boden in 2011 in a bid to save cash.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Wiltshire residents have seen their council tax rise by nearly £200 since 2009 so these pay packages will be hard to stomach for those picking up the bill.

“Remuneration for top bosses cannot be off limits when authorities are trying to find savings.”