Mr Crozier has been well rewarded for his work at Royal Mail

It looked at the earnings of executives and directors in public sector bodies, agencies and authorities.

The average salary of a top boss in a public body was �169,000, while the pay of most chief executives in local government topped �100,000.

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier led the 2004 pay table, at �814,244.

Other big earners in public bodies in 2004 included John Tiner, the chief executive at the Financial Services Authority, with a salary of �471,656.

The public sector often likes to follow the private sector's lead Steve Tatton, IDS

Pay for the top executives at government agencies range from �167,500 at Ordnance Survey to �67,500 at the Public Records Office.

In local government, the earnings of most chief executives surveyed passed the �100,000- a-year mark, whereas 12 months earlier almost 60% had earnings below six figures.

'Top rises'

The IDS research looked at the pay of 61 directors of public bodies, 230 directors of executive agencies and 70 local authority chief executives, based on financial years ending in the 12 months to March 2004.

According to IDS, disclosure of directors' remuneration in public-sector accounts lags far behind the standards expected of publicly-listed companies, making it "much harder to decipher what is happening".

Executive agency pay Ordnance Survey - �167k Office for National Statistics - �162k UK Passport Service - �153k Treasury Solicitor's Office - �147k National Savings - �147k Royal Mint Trading - �127k

"The public sector often likes to follow the private sector's lead and now it seems that top executives in the public sector have taken this one step further by being given top-company style pay rises," said Steve Tatton of IDS.

Mr Crozier's pay for the year to March 2004 included an annual salary of �500,000 and a performance-related bonus of �300,000, half of which was deferred as part of a long-term incentive plan.

This year, he received a �2.2m bonus as his reward for leading the recovery at the Royal Mail since taking over in May 2003.

Among the top-paid, women were conspicuous by their absence. No women featured among the top 15 executives or six finance directors looked at by the IDS.