The UK’s highest-earning council ­official received a yearly pay package of nearly £600,000, despite the council pleading for more money to fund services, a new “town hall rich list” reveals.

Roger Parkin, an interim chief executive at Slough borough council, was the highest-remunerated local official in the country, the latest available data has shown. Mr Parkin received a total ­remuneration package of £595,077 in 2017, which included a £112,959 salary, a £339,903 pension and more than £140,000 in compensation when he left the post.

He was one of 28 officials who received remuneration packages of more than £250,000 from councils across the country, according to a report by a campaigning group, the ­Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA).

Nearly 2,500 council employees ­received pay packages worth more than £100,000, while 608 earned more than £150,000 in total. Of these, 229 were paid a salary of £150,000 or more, ­making them more highly paid than the Prime Minister. In the previous year, just under 180 officials were paid a ­salary higher than £150,000.