A SENIOR council worker will be given a �239,000 pay off for taking voluntary redundancy in the latest sweep of council cuts.

Education director Clair Pyper agreed to take voluntary redundancy in February after Slough Borough Council cut its numbers of directors from four to three and slashed five of its 17 senior management posts.

The education chief's pay-off accounts for a hefty amount of the �2.6m exit packages agreed from April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012.

A total of 91 staff were given pay offs - which include pension contributions, ex-gratia payments and other departure costs.

Ruth Bagley, chief executive, said: "As part of our response to the severe cuts from government we have made Slough Borough Council leaner and have protected frontline services and concentrated on management and support services.

"As part of this process there have been inevitable redundancies - some times of very senior and long-standing members of staff.

"The overall savings made by streamlining the council is more than the one-off payments and means we can continue to provide services into the future."

The redundancy pay is calculated on how long a member of staff has worked for local government, not just Slough Borough Council.

Ms Pyper, who joined the council in 2008, earns between �108,014 to �125,983. She will leave her post in September.

The council enforced a similar round of cuts back in October 2010 when a director and 10 senior management jobs were axed.

Exit packages for 42 staff were agreed from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011, - totalling �2m.

The biggest pay-off was �208,000.