Pay packets for FTSE 100 chief executives rose by 10% last year, up to an average of £5.5m each, according to a new report.

Company bosses earn 140 times more than their employees' average earnings, the High Pay Centre revealed.

The research from the think tank, which campaigns against excessive pay, will lend weight to Theresa May's calls to shake up remuneration and make businesses more accountable.

In a speech before she was confirmed as the new Prime Minister, Mrs May said she wanted to make shareholder votes on pay binding rather than just advisory.

"There is an irrational, unhealthy and growing gap between what these companies pay their workers and what they pay their bosses," she said.


While executive pay grew by 10%, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the average weekly wage grew by 1.9% last year.

The average annual salary for FTSE bosses rose to £5.48m in 2015, up from £4.96m in 2014 and £4.13m in 2010, the High Pay Centre's report shows.

But only a quarter of FTSE 100 companies are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation for paying all their UK-based staff the living wage.

Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, said: "There is apparently no end yet in sight to the rise and rise of FTSE 100 CEO pay packages.

"In spite of the occasional flurry from more active shareholders, boards continue to award ever larger amounts of pay to their most senior executives."

Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising giant WPP, remains the most highly paid FTSE boss, whose total pay reached a record £70m in 2015.

A third of shareholders voted against Sir Martin's pay package earlier this year, while at BP 60% of shareholders voted against chief executive Bob Dudley's £14m packet after the company lost more than £3bn.