A county council has revealed five senior executives are on salary bands which top £100,000 a year.

The news follows the publication in The Argus on Friday of a rich list of town hall bosses.

Pressure group Taxpayers' Alliance had said that East Sussex County Council had rejected its Freedom of Information request.

But the county council said the organisation was mistaken as it had provided a list of the top earners.

Chief executive Cheryl Miller took home up to £158,982 in the 12 months to April 2007.

This puts her in second place in the Sussex rich list, behind Brighton and Hove City Council's boss, Alan McCarthy, who earns £159,010.

A spokesman for the county council said: "The Taxpayers' Alliance report states that East Sussex refused to answer. This is not true.

"Senior management at East Sussex County Council are responsible for managing over 15,000 staff and a gross budget of over £700 million, which is spent on providing 350 different services to the people of East Sussex.

"Councils are responsible for ensuring taxpayers' money is spent wisely on the services local people want and need."

"It is vital that those at the top have the skills, experience and knowledge to do their crucial jobs well.

"The market is very competitive and many councils are having trouble recruiting people to their top jobs.

"To attract the best and brightest people to deliver value for money, you have to pay a competitive wage.

"The county council's policy is to pay salaries to all its staff which are in line with the average salaries paid to those doing similar jobs elsewhere in the public sector in the south east - this is as true for its top managers as it is for other staff in the county council."

"Senior managers doing comparative jobs in the private sector generally earn far more than public sector managers.

"Taxpayers get very good value for money from public sector top managers."

East Sussex's figures brings the total number of officers across the county earning more than £100,000 to 20.

In 2005/6, the top earner in Sussex was Sheryl Grady, then Worthing Borough Council's chief executive, who had gone on sick leave in December 2003.

She took early retirement and received an undisclosed pay-off.

Her total earnings were £170,000, according to figures released to the TaxPayersí Alliance.