A clerk of a small town council who enjoyed a salary higher than a Cabinet minister today told a court he thought the wage was "entirely reasonable".

Michael Wheaton, a 56-year-old former university lecturer, saw his wage rise to £76,000 during his nine years with Goole Town Council.

Mr Wheaton, who had a staff of ten providing services for a community of only 19,000, defended the salary he paid himself.

He told the High Court in Hull: "I was satisfied that what I was being paid was entirely reasonable for the role I was carrying out."

The council is suing Mr Wheaton for claiming an unreasonable salary and is asking the court to order him to repay £111,000 plus £52,237 interest - being the amount the local authority says he was overpaid.

The court heard the council sacked Mr Wheaton for gross misconduct in 1997.

The former town clerk said it had been a "mixture" of his own idea and that of the councillors to increase his salary, which rose from £9,400 for a 28-hour week to more than £70,000 when the position went full-time.

He showed finance committee chairman Kevin Dean and deputy Doug Campsell adverts from magazines and a booklet from the now defunct Humberside County Council to demonstrate the going rates for officers in local government.

"They took the view that the particular role I was performing justified the salary. A comparison for the role I was carrying out could be drawn with officers from Humberside County Council.

Asked by Judge Peter Heppel QC whether Mr Dean raised an eyebrow when his salary jumped at one stage from £36,000 to £55,000, he replied: "Quite the reverse. Councillor Campsell suggested I should be paid more."

Jonathan Harvie QC, for the council, said Mr Wheaton, a former Labour leader of Humberside County Council, paid himself more than double the salary he should have been receiving.

A district auditor pointed out that the £76,000 salary six years ago was more than that of a Cabinet minister and just £13,000 less than the Prime Minister.

Mr Wheaton, of North Cave, Hull, was said to have deliberately falsified a document to increase his salary and backdate his pension.

The hearing was continuing today.

Updated: 10:58 Wednesday, June 27, 2001