The high salaries paid to bosses in the financial sector have come under fire from trade unions.

Ed Sweeney, general secretary of the finance union Unifi, described the level of current salaries as "indefensible".

Finance chiefs failed to merit their top salaries, he said, while thousands of over-stressed and under-staffed workers were facing a pay freeze this year.

While wages for staff had risen by a third between 1994 and 2001, executives had seen their average basic salaries double to over £400,000, according to new figures produced for the union.

"The level of reward given to chief executives in the finance industry is not merited and is indefensible," said Sweeney.

Research for the union showed that four executives at Lloyds TSB, Barclays, HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland earned £7 million between them.

The union says that in contrast, this year's banking sector pay settlement will leave around 6000 staff with no wage rise.