The university now has 22 members of staff earning at least £150,000, compared with just 12 in 2022.

The rise follows a recruitment drive which means the total number of employees earning six-feature salaries on the campus has reached 78, including its vice chancellor who joined last year and is paid at least £340,000.

Over the same period, the UEA has had to save millions of pounds from its budget because of the impact of inflation and a drop in the number of overseas students.

This process is ongoing and last month the university said it needed to trim a further £11m from its budget, warning this may lead to compulsory redundancies.

The institution has defended the increase in pay for senior managers, insisting it has been driven by "market forces".

But the news - which also comes the week the government announced that tuition fees would be rising to £9,535 a year - has triggered a furious response elsewhere.

Nicholas Grant and Nadine Zubair, co-chairmen of the UEA branch of the Universities and Colleges Union said: "Vice chancellor and executive team pay at UK universities has got out of hand.

"At a time........

© Norwich Evening News