KENT County Council has refused to identify senior officers earning more than £100,000 a year because it fears they could become the target of public abuse.

Council chief executive Peter Gilroy intervened to stop the release of the names following a request made under the Freedom of Information Act.

This is despite the fact KCC released the information last year in response to an identical request.

Mr Gilroy's salary identified him as the country’s highest paid council boss with a salary of close to £230,000, but he claimed the publication led to several incidents in which he had been abused in public.

"It was my decision [to block the names] simply because of the horrendous time I had since my salary was published," he said.

"They are not elected officials and I do not think they should go through the same things as I have. I am not convinced it is in the public interest."

Mr Gilroy said he was prepared to release the number of staff earning more than £100,000, but not their names. KCC had 16 such employees last year, two more than the previous year.

The council’s own advisers have now warned KCC it risks looking "incredibly silly" by withholding the information, and the Taxpayers' Alliance, which made the original FOI request, said Mr Gilroy is being unreasonably obstructive.