A quarter of all managers at Wiltshire Council will lose their jobs by April.

It was announced on Monday that 240 of the more than 800 council managers will be made redundant with the majority knowing their fate by Christmas.

But council chief executive Andrew Kerr has ruled out following the example of Prime Minister David Cameron and taking a pay cut himself.

Mr Kerr earns in the region of £189,000 – £46,500 more than Mr Cameron’s £142,500 salary.

He said: “We have to strike the right balance between having the right team in place and paying talented people to do a difficult job.”

He claimed the pay of the council’s top managers was in line with the national average.

The need for cuts comes after it was estimated central government funding would be cut by £122m over the next four years. The exact figure will not be known until October 20.

The council estimates a further £100m will be needed to pay for an ageing population and to fund redundancies.

Despite the cutbacks the council plans to invest £124m in waste and recycling, adult and children’s social care and to keep council tax at its current rate for two years. Mr Kerr said: “We’ve decided there should be no more than five layers of management between me and the front line and that people should manage six people or more.”

Mr Kerr said he hoped most redundancies would be voluntary but confirmed the council is in negotiations with the union on redundancy packages.

Hundreds of further redundancies were not ruled out by Mr Kerr.

Council leader Jane Scott said higher charges could be brought in for parking, special waste collections and libraries.

She said: “If we keep council tax to a zero per cent rise over the next two years then something has to give.

“I would rather people had a choice of charges rather than put it on to the council tax.”

Gavin Brooks, regional organiser of Unison, said the cuts would impact front line services.

He said: “Staff are vital to the smooth running of this authority. If you make them redundant who’s going to do their jobs?”