The 636 council officials who now earn more than the Prime Minister

Some 2,525 council staff earned more than £100,000 in 2011-12

42 local authority employees are on more than £250,000

Some 636 local council officials are earning more than the Prime Minister, a new report reveals today.

They were on salaries of £150,000 or more last year - while David Cameron earns £142,500 for running the country.

Some 2,525 council staff earned more than £100,000 in 2011-12 while 42 local authority employees are on more than £250,000 - a salary that is on par with chief executives of leading multinational companies.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Mr Cameron vowed to make all local authorities publish the names and salaries of staff on more than around £60,000.

High-earners: John Sharkey (left), chief Executive of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, received £314,553 and Katherine Kerswell the controversial former chief of Kent County Council who is earning nearly £600,000

According to the Taxpayers' Alliance 'Townhall Richlist', there has been an 11 per cent drop in the number of staff receiving six figure sums.

But 103 councils actually increased the number of officials earning more than £100,000, with the highest paid, Katherine Kerswell, earning nearly £600,000 thanks in part to a £420,000 pay-off when she left Kent County Council. Mrs Kerswell moved shortly afterwards to a six-figure job in Whitehall.

Birmingham City Council doubled the number of officials who rake in £100,000 to 24. And Camden Council in London has 40 staff earning six figures.

Even the Tories' flagship borough, Wandsworth Council, pays its chief executive Paul Martin a total of £254,880.

The largest remuneration package in Scotland was received by Linda Hardie, executive director of South Lanarkshire Council who received £543,538.

Glasgow, home to some of Scotland's poorest residents, also has the highest number of employees with packages worth more than £100,000: some 27 workers there are on six figures.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles welcomed the report saying it 'shows the real scope for councils to save money by tackling senior pay bills'

John Sharkey, chief Executive of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, a company almost entirely owned by Glasgow City Council, received £314,553. This included a bonus for having a tough year.

Orkney, with its tiny population of 20,000, managed to pay one official £339,610.

Most of assistant chief executive Elaine Grieve's pay was due to a bumper pension of £207,424, as well as a £41,965 pay-off.

All of the top ten earners are chief executives, however big salaries are also being drawn by those overseeing leisure services, environmental and 'wellbeing' departments and social workers.

Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire pays its director of wellbeing and communities £131,381. North Tyneside's unnamed head of access and inclusion is on £141,484.

The breakdown of the figures showed that Boris Johnson's former spindoctor, Guito Harri, had a pay packet of £146,000. And a headteacher of Woolwich Polytechnic has an astonishing salary of £179,420.

Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'It is good news that the number of senior council staff making more than £100,000 a year is finally falling, although that may only be because many authorities have finished paying eye-watering redundancy bills.

'Sadly, too many local authorities are still increasing the number of highly-paid staff on their payroll, some of whom are given hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation just to move from one public sector job to another.'

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: 'I welcome this report, which shows the real scope for councils to save money by tackling senior pay bills.

'Town hall pay was allowed to spiral out of control under the last administration and this Government has been clear councils need to show much greater restraint.

'By introducing transparency for senior and middle management posts; democratic checks on jobs over £100,000; and scrapping golden goodbye bureaucracy for severance deals we have brought greater public scrutiny to bear and seen a welcome reduction in bumper pay packets.'

He added that councillors had the power to block exorbitant pay deals, warning: 'They have no-one to hide behind if they chose not to.'

Mr Pickles has encouraged councils to scrap highly paid chief executive posts or share their top executives with neighbouring authorities.