A shortlist of candidates for the £170,000-plus post of Chief Executive for Bradford Council will be drawn up next month.

Applications are understood to have poured in after a high-profile advertisement went out.

And a selection panel including Council leader Margaret Eaton and party leaders Ian Greenwood and Jeanette Sunderland will decide on a shortlist early in June.

The appointment has attracted controversy over the so-called "super salary" on offer.

The money - with a ceiling of £200,000 - has been criticised in some quarters as being excessive.

But Coun Eaton has always argued that to get the best, the Council has to be prepared to pay a high salary.

Officers from the top-performing councils in the country are in demand and can attract huge salaries. Outgoing chief executive Ian Stewart - at the helm in Bradford for the past four years - has left to take up the post of chief executive of Cambridgeshire County Council.

Coun Eaton said: "I believe there have been many applications for a successor for Ian which will be assessed next month when we draw up the shortlist. The process can be drawn-out and does not always end up with an appointment."

In Hertfordshire, the authority failed to make an appointment as they could not find anyone suitable for the post.

Coun Eaton added: "Hertfordshire is an excellent authority but was not able to appoint. The process is to make sure we find the right person for this job. It is hugely important that we make the right decision for Bradford."