Elderly residents have slammed the revelation that a charity boss received a massive salary increase after leaving them with huge maintenance bills.

Last month people living in four blocks of warden-assisted flats at Guardian Court in Rogate Road, Worthing, were told that their maintenance charges were going to go up by nearly 47% - at least £100 a month.

Some claimed they would even have to leave their homes because of the price hike from Guardian Management Services which runs the buildings.

The firm is part of the Anchor Trust – the country's largest not-for-profit provider of housing, support and care in England.

But while elderly and vulnerable residents say they are barely scraping together enough cash to pay for their upkeep, Anchor Trust's chief executive John Belcher was last year awarded a massive 32% increase in his pay packet.

The boost rocketed the charity boss' salary to £327,000.

James Wilson MBE, secretary of the residents association for Guardian Court in Rogate Road, Worthing, one of the blocks affected, said he was disgusted at the chief executive's pay rise.

He said: “It's disgusting because the company has made so many mistakes in working out our charges and we are struggling to pay them.”

Guardian maintains that the rising cost of utilities were to blame for the hikes and quoted prices rising by 139% for gas, 111% for electricity and 58% for water.

But Mr Wilson said these figures were ludicrously high and he blamed poor insulation and a lack of thermostats for any overspend on heating for the buildings.

He said that residents were also paying £14,000 a year for an estate manager, even though they have not had one for the past eight weeks and that some people had even been charged for garages that they do not have.

His residents association is taking the firm to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Chichester to challenge the increase in their charges.

The hearing is expected to take place on June 3.

Their campaign has the backing of Worthing Borough Councillor Tom Wye, Worthing West MP Peter Bottomley and East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton.