FIFTEEN town hall workers in Warrington walk away with more than £100,000 per year.

Just to recap, there are 15 civil servants, earning the equivalent of the CEO of a small to medium sized business, on the public payroll, at a time of major belt-tightening.

Usually I'm loathe to dust off the old soapbox for a piece of Taxpayers Alliance propaganda (if by taxpayers you mean capitalist hoorays who would cheerfully privatise your gran if there was a buck in it).

And I've always broadly believed - Wire loans aside - that Steven Broomhead usually runs a tight ship in Sankey Street. Much of the issue may lie at his predecessor Dianne Terris' door.

But are there really that many high-powered roles in WBC which merit the sort of moolah normally reserved for hospital consultants and reality TV stars?

While slightly uneasy, I've no massive qualms with the chief executive and any of the big six (education, social services, community services, finance, health, regeneration) topping the £100K mark.

However there are at least eight assistant directors, including two for nebulous -sounding roles covering 'universal services' and 'targeted services', and a lawyer and chief accountant, also in the mix.

This compares with other unitary neighbours like Halton, with only eight high earners (down from 10 the previous year), Blackburn on eight (down from 14), and just six in Wigan ( down from nine).

If it's any consolation, Warrington's chief exec comes in at just shy of £200k, unlike Wigan's Joyce Redfearn, who pockets a package of £343,000 for 2011-12, or the boss of West Lancs Council, who walked away with £340,000.

When there are plenty facing redundancy at WBC though, and everyone counts the cost of not keeping the bankers on a short leash, perhaps slicing the pie a little more equally wouldn't go amiss in future.

  •  An early victory for the column, I was very heartened to hear of the acquisition of the former Boots building for redevelopment.

Maybe we're not as close as when we used to share the public gallery at Birchwood Town Council but it's still nice when Mr Broomhead and WBC listen to yours truly.

Only Winwick Street, the old technical college and riverside regeneration to go and I'll be a happy bunny.

  •  Hats off to Baffito's for earning its spurs as a top town centre venue. It's good to see the old Times Square building thriving after a couple of false starts there.

And at least, unlike 20 years or so ago, most of the patrons will be legally entitled to drink there.