GOVERNORS have warned staff at Bury Grammar Schools that it would be "financial suicide" to increase their salaries.

Pay talks have been taking place for almost a year concerning the possibility of implementing "threshold payments" at the 1,900-pupil schools. These are special payments of £2,000 being given to some high-performing colleagues in the public sector.

But at schools in the private sector, like Bury Grammar, that money would have to be found by the schools themselves.

The chairman of the governors, Mr Andrew Rigby, confirmed that staff have made approaches to see if threshold payments could be implemented.

He said: "The governors have considered this request and have explained that, in their view, at this stage its introduction would have an adverse impact on the levels of fees which parents would face." Parents pay £4,770 per annum in senior school fees and £3,402 for junior and kindergarten children. A total of 76 per cent of Bury Grammar's costs already relate to salaries for its 179 teaching staff at its three sites off Tenterden Street, leaving just 24 per cent for everything else.

Governors have pointed out that if more money was spent on salaries, then other areas such as buildings and even staff could be hit.

They warned that the school, which has few cash reserves and falling rolls, could go into a "downward spiral" if this was the case.

The minutes of one of a series of meetings between governors and staff, passed on to the Bury Times state: "Governors reiterated that it would be financial suicide to pay more than could be afforded."

But staff, while stressing they were not specifically seeking an increase by the full £2,000, did say they should be the priority when it comes to funding.

The schools' pay scales are based on the DfEE scales. However, they also boast a number of enhancements for staff such as service awards, additional incremental points based on performance, merit and additional responsibilities and discounted fees.

Last month governors said that the overall salary costs could not be increased and that no standard increases on the current scales were envisaged. But Mr Rigby told the Bury Times: "The school recognises, however, that there are likely to be further discussions as part of a continuous process of reviewing the staff's terms and conditions."

He added: "The school has always recognised the benefit in there being appropriate dialogue with its staff and, as such, has held meetings with staff representatives."