Centrica bosses get 5 per cent pay rise

TOP directors at Centrica, owner of Scottish Gas and British Gas, will get an average 5 per cent pay rise this year.

The firm's annual report said the award followed a year of "significant delivery" for the business and bigger roles for two of its five executive directors.

The revelation comes in a week which has seen thousands of British Gas workers vote for strike action amid criticisms of "macho management", although the company has hit back at the GMB union for "false accusations and reckless scaremongering".

A company spokesman said top directors took a pay freeze in 2009 while average salaries rose 4 per cent among the group's customer-facing staff.