Brent Council has come under fire for spending more than £10million in staff payoffs since 2010.

The figures, revealed in a recent council audit report, show £3.502million was spent on exit packages in 2010-2011, £4.366m in 2011-2012 and £2.311m last year.

The report also included the cost of exit packages for two council chiefs who left the authority in 2012.

Gareth Daniel, the council’s former chief executive, walked away with £200,702 while Clive Heaphy, the director of finance and corporate services, was awarded £140,508.

Mr Daniel left his £203,342-a-year post in September after a breakdown in relations with Cllr Muhammed Butt, who had become the leader of the council four months before.

Mr Heaphy stepped down from his £135,105-a-year post two months later.

Cllr Paul Lorber, the leader of Brent’s Liberal Democrats, said: “If managed more effectively, this money could have helped keep closed libraries open, fixed potholes and cleaned the streets.”

His part colleague Cllr Daniel Brown said: “The effects of Labour’s in-fighting have come back to bite the Brent taxpayer. Given the amount of money involved, local residents deserve the truth.”

Shahrar Ali, a Brent Green Party spokesman, said: “The sad reality is that the people of Brent are no longer dumbfounded by the sheer audacity of these payoffs to senior officers of the council.

“A worker on a zero-hours contract would typically have to work 20 years to command the level of so-called compensation payment received by former chief executive Gareth Daniel.

“I am sure that Daniel did not get zero-hours notice before being told he was no longer required.”

A spokesman for Brent Council said: “So far we have saved over £54m and have another £20m to save next year. Where savings have involved making redundancies, we have built those one-off costs into our budget planning.

“Our spending plans have been supported by a recent independent report which says we offer taxpayers value for money and have made proper arrangements to secure services and the authority’s future.”

The council refused to specifically comment on the pay-offs for Mr Daniel and Mr Heaphy.