Doctors saw their salaries boosted by an average 20 per cent last year to make them the second most highly-paid profession after top-level company directors, new government statistics show.
At an average salary of £81,744, doctors overtook city traders but still lagged behind top-level company directors who received £171,109 on average, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for 2005 revealed.
The salary for the average full-time worker in the UK stood at £28,210, while leisure and theme park attendants were at the bottom of the list, earning only £10,420 per year, the report, which surveys more than 300 full-time trades and professions, found.
The figures revealed a widening gap between earnings at the top of the list and earnings at the bottom, as well as between earnings for the top six in the list and those just behind them.
"The pay of all those at the bottom and in the middle of the pay league is tightly controlled," said general secretary of union GMB, Paul Kenny.
"However, the pay of broker, senior managers and directors is subject to little control and the numbers and pay of these people continues to inflate. The only way to tackle the resulting inequality is via the tax system. GMB wants to see action on this."
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