TAXPAYERS have footed a bill of almost £1m to fund the early retirement of five council officers, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The deal was struck by Richmondshire District Council, in North Yorkshire, as part of a management restructuring exercise.

In return for taking early retirement and clearing the way for the reshuffle, the officers' pension funds were enhanced by the council, which paid out a total of £953,285.

The five former officers are chief executive Harry Tabiner, corporate unit manager Margaret Barry, planning and development manager Patrick Earle, policy and partnerships manager Elspeth Hall, and contracting services manager Mike Slee.

The officers received varying amounts in their pension pay-outs.

The cost to the public purse of the pay-off was leaked this week to The Northern Echo and then confirmed by the council.

The council also outlined the breakdown of the deal. The six- figure sum is made up of about £408,000 to cover the strain on the funds of the officers taking their pensions earlier.

A further sum of about £410,000 was spent on increasing the value of the pensions, as agreed with the officers.

The council also incurred financing costs of about £136,000 so the burden of the payout could be spread over five years.

The departures of the senior officers was billed as a fresh start by senior councillors, after years of infighting and bad feeling at the council over plans to build new £5m offices in Colburn.

Former council leader John Blackie said at the time that the restructuring exercise would save the council £500,000 over the next eight years.

And this week, Coun Blackie insisted that the predicted savings were realistic.

He said: "I'm quite happy to defend the deal wholeheartedly.

"At the end of the day, we will save £62,000 year in, year out during the next eight years and beyond, by the implementation of the new management arrangements."

In the reshuffle, Mr Tabiner has been replaced as chief executive by Jack Neal, who has been hired on a temporary basis.

The four retiring unit managers have not been replaced.

Instead, the council's eight departments have been reduced to four - resources, environment, community and customer.

The remaining unit managers have been promoted to manage the larger departments.