A LOBBY group has criticised Bury Council for staying tight lipped on who earns what at the town hall.

Ratepayer representatives The Taxpayers’ Alliance (TA) asked every local authority in the UK to provide details of their five biggest earners.

Bury replied to the Freedom of Information request to say their three most highly paid staff earned £145,000, £115,000 and £105,000, but would not release further details.

Neighbouring authorities in Bolton, Salford, Trafford, Rochdale and Wigan complied in full, revealing the names, roles and pay rises of their top five earners.

When the TA last asked Bury for the figures relating to the 2007/8 tax year, the authority provided them in full.

After the figures were released yesterday, TA campaign director Mark Wallace said: “There is no excuse for keeping tight lipped on this, particularly when the majority of councils across the country provided the information happily and openly.

“Sometimes when we put in these requests, councils refuse to release the information giving the excuse that it is private information — and sometimes they don’t even bother to reply at all.

“Taxpayers are paying the wages of people who are providing services for them. They have a right to see where their money goes.”

He added: “We would like it to become law for authorities to make this information public.

“We are not asking for people like dinner ladies on the bottom end of the scale to have their earnings published, but we think it is fair for anyone earning over £100,000 to say so.

“If Bury is too embarrassed to tell us who is earning that, then perhaps they should bring their wages down.”

A Bury Council spokesman said: “The information provided to the Taxpayers Alliance was provided in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.”