Public expenditure: Row over pay for interim manager

The manager was hired in order to fill the gap when the previous head of "transformation services" left the Town Hall in February this year.

The temporary replacement is guaranteed 700 a day until at least the end of July, when council chiefs hope to find someone permanent for the role.

Councillor Bryan Lodge, deputy leader of the opposition Labour group on Sheffield Council, said: "What would you do with a whopping 700 a day? It's certainly a lot of money.

"At a time when the city is facing such huge cuts from the Con-Dem Government, I can't believe Sheffield's Lib Dem council see fit to employ someone on such a fat-cat salary.

"It's just not fair and I'm sure Sheffield council tax payers will be expecting a full explanation. Unfortunately, wages like these are a luxury we can no longer afford and the Lib Dems should know better."

Coun Lodge also claimed that, in the Liberal Democrats' first year of controlling Sheffield Council, the number of employees earning more than 50,000 increased by 30 per cent.

Kevin Foster, director of transformation services and performance at Sheffield Council, said: "This role is about managing a programme to deliver savings for the council of over 20m a year, reduce the amount of office accommodation the council uses and to improve the customer experience of council services.

"To not have anyone in place carrying on this work while we recruit to this position permanently would delay all the progress that has been achieved so far and would put us at risk of not achieving these key objectives.

"The role is essential for making the ambitious savings we have set ourselves, and for modernising the way the council works."

Quarter of salary spent in 14 days

A quarter of Britons spend the majority of their salary within two weeks of getting paid, a survey showed today.

About 23 per cent admitted they had burned their way through most of their wages within a fortnight, while 9 per cent said they typically blew 70 per cent of their pay during the first weekend, says MyVoucherCodes.co.uk

Women were most likely to have nearly run out of money, with 29 per cent saying they had only 10 left in their account the day before they were paid.

About 27 per cent said they saved money every month.

But 43 per cent of people admitted they never saved any of their salary.