Wandsworth Council's chief executive and director of administration Gerald Jones has come under fire for his fat cat' salary.

A report issued by the Taxpayers' Alliance revealed Mr Jones has the third highest salary of any council officer in the UK.

Mr Jones's salary was listed as £227,424 a year, well above Tony Blair's annual pay of £186,000.

The alliance said it was important the figures were made public because council tax bills had risen in many areas.

Wandsworth Council tax is set to rise by 4.9 per cent, the first rise in three years. The national rise is 4.5 per cent Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "We put these figures into the public domain so people know what their local council chiefs are being paid.

"Some people with low tax, efficient councils such as Wandsworth may think their officials deserve these salaries, but people living in areas with high council tax and poor quality services will probably conclude they're overpaid.

"We believe any council which is not delivering council tax cuts should take a serious look at the pay of its top employees.

"Many families and pensioners are struggling to pay their council tax bills and will be rightly outraged by fat cat' pay."

Wandsworth Council defended its chief executive, commending Mr Jones' hard work.

A spokesman said: "We are is a four star council which has just been recognised by the Audit Commission as one of the top performing councils in the country for quality of services and value for money.

"Our council tax bills have been the lowest in the country for the past 25 years. Our chief executive, who has been in the post for 21 years, has been the key to delivering that prolonged success.

"The council's salary scale is independently vetted by industry specialists. The chief executive's pay range is from £158,000 to £214,000 which is below current salary levels in outer London boroughs without Wandsworth's reputation for performance. His final pay is determined by results."

The alliance's councils' rich list was compiled from information released for 2005-6 under the Freedom of Information Act.

It also revealed 17 officers in Wandsworth Council earned more than £100,000, although this figure was disputed by a spokesman.

The report singled out the director of housing Roy Evans as having one of the 10 largest town hall pay rises for council officer in the UK.