UNIVERSITY chiefs in Bournemouth have salary packages of more than £200,000 and spend thousands on air fares and hotel accommodation, a new report has revealed.

Bournemouth University’s Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney earned £255,000, spent £2,624 on air fares, £2,895 on hotels and a huge £467,000 on management consultants in 2014/15.

At neighbouring Arts University Bournemouth, Professor Stuart Bartholomew earned £208,000 with £4,142 spent on air fares, £4,201 on hotel accommodation and £200,000 spent on management consultants.

The figures were revealed in Freedom of Information requests made by the University and College Union (UCU), which has since criticised the levels of pay.

It said Vice Chancellors pay has increased by an average of 14 per cent in the last five years, compared with five per cent for other university staff.

The FOI request revealed the average salary package is £272,000 and the highest is£467,000, paid to Oxford University chief Andrew Hamilton.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “The time has finally come for a frank and open discussion. While some continue to enjoy inflation-busting pay hikes and all the trimmings, staff pay continues to be held down.”

A spokeswoman for Bournemouth University said: “Remuneration for senior staff is set independently by the Remuneration Committee, a sub-committee of the University Board, whose members are drawn from independent Board Members.

“Decisions are informed by benchmark data for the sector independently provided by the Committee of University Chairs and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. At BU, the Vice-Chancellor’s pay increase in 2014-15 was two per cent. This is below the sector average increase as reported by UCU.

“The management consultancy spend includes work related to our significant estates development projects (we will have invested £200million in estates and IT by 2018) and a range of other costs, including legal fees, trademark protection, our staff survey, some specialist marketing and recruitment work.”