AN independent review panel is calling for an "urgent" review of the allowance paid to Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon.

A review panel chaired by University of Teesside vice-chancellor, Professor Derek Fraser, says: "It is the considered opinion of the panel that the mayoral allowance was set too low and that it is not in keeping with the nature and extent of the duties of the directly-elected mayor."

It is recommending that the former CID chief is paid £50,000 - instead of his current £30,000 - with a further review before April 1, along with all the special responsibility allowances paid to councillors.

If agreed by next week's full council meeting, the 66 per cent pay increase for Mr Mallon would include the £5,000 basic allowance he is already being paid, plus an increase in his special responsibility allowance from £25,000 to £45,000 - a rise which the panel suggests should be "implemented at the earliest date."

The panel says in a report that it recommended the present allowance at a time when there were no directly-elected mayors in office, and when the true extent of the role of elected mayor was not fully understood.

The result was Mr Mallon ended up being paid the lowest allowance in the country, but for Hackney, which is yet to make a decision.

Reviewing the pay scales in the light of the first six months Mr Mallon has been in office, the panel found the average mayoral allowance in Britain is £50,600.