Corus workers are having their livelihoods destroyed and yet managers are receiving telephone number bonuses

John Edmonds General Secretary GMB

The details, disclosed in Corus' accounts, have angered union officials who are still fighting to save some of the 6,000 jobs being axed by the company.

"Corus workers are having their livelihoods destroyed and yet managers are receiving telephone number bonuses," said John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB union.

Mr Bryant was paid �876,310 to cover his two-year basic salary contract and his Dutch counterpart, Mr van Duyne, received more than �1.1m because of more generous pension-linked arrangements. The other Dutch executive who retired last year received �633,500.

The payouts had been expected but the figures only became available in Corus' annual report.

Hard times

In March, the first set of results since British Steel and Hoogovens merged to form Corus reported an operating loss of �1.152bn ($1.67bn) for the 15 months to December - �100m higher than it forecast.

A month earlier the firm announced it would reduce its workforce across the UK, closing down plants in Ebbw Vale and Bryngwyn in Wales, and scaling back at Llanwern and other factories.

A Trade and Industry Select Committee report into the events leading up to the jobs announcement was highly critical of the Corus management, past and present.

It said Corus failed make the decisions that would have delivered the efficiencies promised by the merger and the chairman, Sir Brian Moffatt, was singled out for his present corporate strategy which offers "no hope" for the company's survival.

The weak euro, which Corus blamed for the cuts, was described by MPs as only a "short term" problem and the report went on to say "a large well-managed company could have been expected to weather" the currency fluctuations.