Senior staff at a college where the principal gets a six-figure salary earn less than £23,000, it emerged today.

On Tuesday, The Argus reported that Ann Smith, who heads City College Brighton and Hove, took home £145,000 in salary, bonuses and pension contributions in 2005.

Her pay deal and that of five senior post-holders who also get six-figure salaries were compared to that of lecturers who earn between £23,000 and £32,000.

But a member of the non-teaching staff has revealed the situation is even worse for support staff.

The senior technician, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Even with a harmonised pay scale, a full-time senior IT engineer does not earns more than £22,000.

"£23,000 or higher is a pipe dream for support staff at the college.

"I am unaware of any post other than departmental management which could offer such a decent salary.

"This important detail adds a different aspect to the situation.

"Lecturers have it easy in comparison to the non-teaching staff and, as the article accurately pointed out, lecturers are still getting a rough ride."

City College chairman Martin Perry said: "The board recognises the contribution made by staff at all levels in the college.

"We take into account the national benchmarks for all levels of staff and have taken the lead in adopting the harmonised pay scales recommended by the Association of Colleges for staff and ensured the remuneration of our principal and senior post-holders fairly reflects the excellent performance and contribution they have made to the college."