FIGURES released last week by the TaxPayers Alliance on council employee pay have exposed some shocking statistics right here in Merseyside.

With a total remuneration package of £417,187 last year, the Acting Director of Community Services is the highest paid local government employee in the Northwest region and fifth in the country, while Knowsley Council have more than doubled the number of employees receiving in excess of £100,000.

Residents in Merseyside must surely be scratching their heads, wondering why their ever increasing council tax is going on six-figure salaries for council chiefs at a time when local services are at risk.

Merseyside councils now employ as many as 60 people on six-figure salaries.

Frankly, local people deserve better than this and expect some level of financial prudence from their local authority.

Paul Nuttall, UKIP Merseyside MEP.