Three vacant top jobs at Bradford Council will cost the authority more than £350,000 a year in wages.

Councillors have agreed the pay scales for the posts of deputy chief executive, director of corporate services and director of adult services. They are £140-£150,000, £115-£125,000 and £102-£112,000 respectively.

The vacancies follow a shake-up of the top management structure at the Council, slimming down from three assistant chief executives and 12 directors to one deputy chief executive and seven directors.

Five of the directorships have already been filled internally and the remainder are shortly to be advertised, alongside the job as new chief executive Tony Reeves' second in command.

A spokesman for the Council said: "The top management restructure has been agreed and the vacant posts will be advertised. There are interim arrangements in place for old director posts pending the outcome of the next part of the top management restructure."

The changes leave nine former directors without a position. Phil Green, the education and life skills director, has left the authority. Gerry Danby, the legal and democratic services director, and Alan Dalton, the interim assistant chief executive in charge of policy and corporate support, both leave soon.

Earlier this month the Tele-graph & Argus reported that the Council's assistant chief executive Mark Carriline had taken over as the new head of children's services.

The new role of strategic director of services to children and young people is required by law following the murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie in 2000.

Jane Glaister is the new director of culture, tourism and sport. Alan Mainwaring bec-omes director of regeneration, Richard Wixey is the director of environment and neighbourhoods, and Wallace Sampson director of customer services.

The new strategic directors and Mr Reeves are rolling their sleeves up next week and finding out about life on the front-line as a Council worker. The chief executive will be joining the gipsy liaison manager to visit both the Council's official sites at Laisterdyke and Esholt.

Mr Sampson will pull on a pair of steel toe-capped boots to become a building labourer and help refurbish the toilets next to Shipley Market.

Mr Carriline will take up a lollipop to be a school crossing patrol co-ordinator at High Fernley School, Wyke. Mr Wixey will help to clean the grime from Centenary Square.

Mr Mainwaring will join Bradford's CCTV team to watch what is happening on city centre streets and Miss Glaister will go out with park rangers.

It is all part of National Customer Services Week.

e-mail: jo.winrow @bradford.newsquest.co.uk