CITY council managers have pocketed more than £2.5m in the last three years filling in for their absent bosses.

The payments were made to staff “acting up” because senior staff are either on long-term sick or have quit their posts without a replacement being found.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal one council manager took home an extra £40,000 on top of their normal salary last year.

And the amount being paid out in “honoraria” has risen steeply year on year with £593,853 spent in 2006/07 and £885,609 in 2007/08.

Last year, the figure soared to more than £1,053,829.

The news has raised concerns staff without the relevant experience are being expected to fulfil the requirements of specialised roles – and they are being over-stretched.

It is also claimed taxpayers could effectively be “paying twice” for council staff, with some off sick while others receive extra cash for carrying out their duties.

But city bosses said in cases where posts are vacant, paying an existing member of staff extra saves money.

Liberal group leader and personnel manager Cllr Steve Radford said the fact so much was being paid out in honoraria suggested either sickness absence was being abused or that, if other senior managers were filling in for missing colleagues yet still managing to run the council smoothly, there were too many senior posts in the first place.

The average number of sick days per council employee is 11.4 a year – more than double the private sector average.