Kent County Council has defended the number of its staff on high salaries after a survey found it has more than 400 managers earning £50,000 or more a year.

The cost to the taxpayer of the 407 managers was more than £26million in 2007-2008, making Kent the eighth-biggest spender of all authorities on top earners and costing each resident £18.81 a year.

The survey was conducted by the campaign group the Taxpayers Alliance. The county council’s 407 managers include 17 on salaries of more than £100,000 and a further 10 who took home more than £110,000.

KCC deputy leader Cllr Alex King (Con) said the survey was misleading.

"The Taxpayers Alliance, as always, has produced a list of numbers without telling the full story," he said.

"We are the largest county council in the country with over 40,000 staff and a budget of £1.8billion, including schools. We need good quality staff to deliver four star services and we have to compete with the public and private sectors for excellent people."

He added that KCC, having been second-highest spender in a previous survey, was now eighth.

"We are not complacent and always seek best value for money for the taxpayer."

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The publication of the survey comes as KCC reveals plans for a recruitment freeze that will involve leaving every job vacancy unfilled for at least a month before it is advertised.

Under the policy, aimed at saving £2million, an estimated 2,500 jobs will go unfilled for a minimum of a month. Of those, about one in four could be jobs considered critical to frontline services.

The Kent branch of Unison, the union representing county council staff, said it was concerned at the proposed policy.

Branch secretary David Lloyd said: "We have expressed our concern that this could leave key jobs in frontline services vacant. As we understand it, each post will be considered on merit."