A whopping £25,000 pay rise handed to Brighton and Hove's council boss has been branded "obscene" by community leaders.

City chief executive David Panter's annual pay cheque will shoot up by 21 per cent - from £120,000 to £145,000 - in October after councillors agreed to the increase at a secret meeting on Thursday.

The inflation-busting salary boost was given the nod by councillors from all parties but triggered an immediate storm of protest outside the confines of the city hall.

The £25,000 raise alone is £2,000 a year more than the city's average wage and double what some council workers earn.

Average council tax bills top £1,000 and further cuts must be made if the authority is to fill an £18 million hole in its budget.

But Mr Panter, who is credited with making £6 million a year in savings to the council's budget since he arrived two years ago, was granted the increase after internal and external appraisals ranked his performance as "excellent".

Council leader Ken Bodfish yesterday sent a letter to all of the city's councillors explaining the rationale behind the payment.

Alex Knutson, secretary of the council's Unison branch, led the dissent.

He said: "This big rise is a disgrace when we have so many low-paid workers. We could all do with being rewarded for our extra work."

Steve Petch, vice-chairman of the Fire Brigades Union's East Sussex branch, said firefighters had been condemned for a claim for a £30,000 starting salary.

He said: "We feel it is obscene that senior managers get over- inflation salary increases when they preach to their employees to be restrained in their wage claims."

GMB union organiser Charles Harrity said: "When there are problems funding schools and other public services this does not sit well with the GMB or its members."

Bill North, general secretary of the Brighton and Hove Trades Council, said: "When trade unionists have to put up with small increases it is an outrage that David Panter can coolly claim 21 per cent."

The council yesterday said Mr Panter's salary compared favourably with similar posts at other councils.

Coun Bodfish wrote to colleagues and staff defending the decision, which he said was taken following external independent advice.

He said: "The extra cost will be met from within current management budgets and there will be no need to put in any new money. Were we to lose the chief executive we would have to pay far more to rerecruit and this would need to be done at the higher salary."

Tony Greenstein, of the Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers' Centre, said: "There is no justification for this whatsoever - it is obscene.

"We have people come into the centre who do not have the money to put shoes on their children's feet and this person has so much money - it just beggars belief."