THE true nature of the "upstairs downstairs" state of Britain's workforce has been revealed in a new report showing that the highest earning employees were paid 16 times as much as those at the bottom of the ladder.

Directors and chief executives were paid an average of £162,000 last year, compared with £10,400 for theme park attendants.

The average basic pay of top bosses was more than twice as much as the next highest earning group, financial managers and chartered secretaries at £72,100.

The analysis of 342 professions covered by official wage statistics showed that hairdressers, shelf fillers, porters, bar staff and florists were among the lowest paid.

Brokers, aircraft pilots and lawyers were in the top 10 highest paid professions earning a mean wage of £64,290, £56,206 and £49,970 respectively.

Paul Kenny, acting general secretary of the GMB which produced the report, said: "There is no greater indicator of the upstairs downstairs nature of the labour market in Britain today.

"The pay of all those at the bottom and in the middle of the pay league is closely controlled.

"However, the pay of 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."

Those at the bottom of the earnings pile included people in the hospitality industry such as hotel porters (£12,999), kitchen and catering assistants (£11,408), waiters and waitresses (£11,156), bar staff (£11,094).

But do the low wages have an impact on Bournemouth's thriving hospitality trade?

Mark Haslingden, chairman of Bournemouth Area Hospitality Association, said: "The good thing about the industry is that people want to come into it, want to progress and become high achievers and high earners. You find a lot of people who walk into the industry and their salaries are a bit poor. But people can move up the ladder quite quickly."

He added that many hoteliers pay their staff above the minimum wage to attract them to the job and offer free meals while on duty and accommodation.

First published: May 26