Bradford Council's new chief executive could start the job earning up to £20,000 a year less than predecessor Richard Penn.

Details of the job description and pay scale for the top job with Britain's fourth biggest metropolitan authority are being finalised before the post is advertised nationally.

But it is understood the starting salary could be pitched at about £85,000 - with the authority considering a rise of up to around £90,000 - depending on factors including existing salary and experience.

The average salary recommended by the Local Government Management Board for an authority the same size as Bradford is £92,700. Liverpool's Chief Executive, where the population is similar to Bradford's, is paid £100,000.

Salaries are based on the population the authority covers, the cost of living and range of responsibilities. Mr Penn's exact salary has never been announced by the Council, which has a policy of not discussing individual employees.

But it is understood he was paid about £110,000 as head of the 23,000-strong workforce.

Mr Penn - one of Britain's highest -paid Council chief executives - left last month on the grounds of ill health. His pay was the top of his band.

Today he said he was not surprised a new person might start at the bottom of the pay scale.

He added that at a review in 1997 the Council had taken the view his salary was at the right level. "I don't think I was overpaid. I was paid the rate for a very difficult job. I worked a 70-hour week, 12 hours a day. It is a big authority." Mr Penn, 52, who lives in Ilkley, declined to comment on his pension arrangements, saying they were between him and the pensions fund. He now expects to look for a part-time job with a national or local organisation like a health authority.

Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood said: "Obviously we don't want to pay more money than we need to."

A spokesman for the Local Government Board said their recommended figures were for guidance only.

"There is nothing to stop an authority paying its chief executive £300,000, as long as the job warrants it and it can be justified to the voter."

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