City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby is set to get a £44,000 pay rise, it has been revealed.

His current wage of £56,000 will jump to £100,000, if the increase is approved by the city council.

Sir Peter's deputy, Rory Palmer, is due to see his pay rise by £41,000, from £34,000 to £75,000, while the six assistant mayors are likely to see their annual income rise from £26,000 to £40,000. The remaining 47 city councillors are in line for a 20 per cent pay rise, too, with the basic councillor allowance set to increase from £10,000 to £12,000.

The proposals have been put forward by the council's independent remuneration panel and will be voted on by councillors next week.

Sir Peter said: "It's right that an independent panel reviews pay, rather than myself and councillors."

He would not answer the Mercury's questions about whether he thought the increase was fair, saying it was not right for politicians to "meddle" in such matters.

He added: "While the panel has recommended for some allowances to be increased, they've also proposed to cut extra payments to some councillors, which will save money.

"It's important to remember we now also save £250,000 a year due to no longer having a chief executive."

The pay overhaul would see payments for some roles on the council, such as vice-chairs of committees, scrapped, along with the extra payments that went with those posts.

The expenses system would also be simplified, meaning less staff time would be needed to process claims.

The news of the proposed increases comes at a time when the authority is one year in to a four-year drive to save £100 million and cut 1,000 posts.

Conservative opposition councillor Ross Grant said: "It's disgusting bumper pay deals are being drawn up as hundreds are being made redundant across the council.

"The mayor will be paid almost twice as much as the previous council leader under these proposals. It simply cannot be justified."

One of the remuneration panel's members, who did not wish to be named, said: "We expect uproar from some people over these recommendations, but the city mayor is the most powerful directly-elected politician outside London.

"Similar roles in the private sector would attract a significant package of pay and benefits."

London's elected mayor, Boris Johnson, earns £144,000 a year.

The elected mayor of Doncaster cut his own salary to £30,000 on taking office. The previous rate had been £62,000. However, Doncaster has a quarter of the population of Leicester.

Sir Peter quit his role as Leicester South MP earlier this year to stand in May's mayoral election. Before he took his seat as an MP in 2005, he was leader of the city council for 19 years. In 1997, he became England's highest paid civic leader, and earned twice the average salary of leaders of similar councils.

The remuneration panel comprises Leicester Chamber of Commerce chief executive Martin Traynor, De Montfort University vice chancellor Dominic Shellard, businessman Mike Kapur, and charity boss Pat Zadora.

Its report will be presented to a meeting of the full council next Thursday.