UNIONS have criticised a taxpayer funded leaving bash for a Hampshire council boss held the night before he told 250 staff they would be axed while the rest faced a large per cent pay cut.

More than 70 senior Southampton council officers, business leaders and university chiefs packed the newly refurbished Westgate Hall for a party to celebrate chief executive Brad Roynon’s retirement.

The following day staff received letters from Mr Roynon telling them up to 250 of them faced the axe and everyone else would have their weekly hours reduced by two hours for a pay cut averaging 5.4 per cent.

Mr Roynon, 60, who was paid £205,920 in 2009/10 including a £32,107 pension contribution, told staff the council was in an “unprecedented, very tough financial climate” and that 400 more jobs would have to go over the next two years without the pay cuts.

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The council’s Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker condemned the send off for Mr Roynon, who left on Friday.

He said: “It’s completely inappropriate at a time when the council is proposing to reduce the wages of some of the lowest paid staff in the city to be spending council money on entertainment to mark the retirement of the previous chief executive.”

Mr Tucker said his members had given to the proposed cuts a “hostile reaction”. Tory council leaders insist they are needed to help plug a £62m budget black hole over the next four years.

The proposals will be put to union members at a meeting on Wednesday.

Westgate Hall in St Michael’s Square, formerly Tudor Merchants Hall, recently reopened after a council and lottery funded revamp.

It is now available for hire for £400 an evening as a “fantastic backdrop for civil marriages, wedding receptions, private parties, concerts, lectures, meetings and conferences”.

A council spokesman said the total cost to the taxpayer was £436 to pay for an “external provider to source the food”.

The spokesman said: “More than 70 Southampton business and stakeholders attended Westgate Hall on Wednesday.

“During Brad’s ten years as chief executive of Southampton City Council, he helped to forge partnerships around the city which resulted in a significant benefit to the economy.

“The council used an internal venue and its own caterers to keep costs to an absolute minimum.

Whenever possible the council will always look to its own venues first when booking or holding functions or events.”