IT will be a huge insult to taxpayers and working people in Lancashire if today county councillors vote for the 23 per cent pay rise pencilled in for themselves.

And it will be an even greater outrage if County Hall leader Hazel Harding, is awarded the 51 per cent increase she is in line for -- giving her an extra £11,500 a year.

For who on earth among the people they represent gets bumper pay rises of this order these days?

Most workers tend to receive pay increases in line with the rate of inflation. That's if they are getting a rise at all as belt-tightening and rising redundancies spell out the need for caution.

So what justification is there for county councillors giving themselves so much extra?

Indeed, the rises being considered today by members of Lancashire's best value and resources executive committee would make our county councillors among the best-paid in the country. And if Mrs Harding's allowance rockets to £34,000 a year, she will collect far more than the leaders of far larger local authorities.

These proposed pay rises are far more than the average paid to councillors elsewhere. That recommended for Mrs Harding is almost double the norm and Lancashire 'cabinet' members would get more than twice the going rate.

But it is not just a question of that. For what outstanding level of service or improvements can county councillors identify to suggest that they are worth so much more?

It is no use them saying that these pay rises are the recommendations of an independent panel and are designed to reflect the amount of time and responsibility involved. If they are way out of line with the allowances for other councillors, light years distant from ordinary people's pay rises and rubbing salt in the wounds of the thousands of people being thrown out of work, then the only justification for them is greed.

Consider that, councillors. And reconsider fast.