Lloyds planned boardroom rises after £17bn bail-out

PLANS were drawn up for big increases in boardroom pay at high street bank Lloyds after it received billions of pounds of support from the taxpayer.

Remuneration advisers argued that executive directors were entitled to more generous packages following its takeover of rival HBOS in October.

The merged Lloyds Banking Group, in which the Government holds a 43 per cent stake in return for a £17billion cash injection, is understood to have sounded out its shareholders between a month and six weeks ago.

The scheme was rejected and executive directors will get no pay rises this year. The pay advisers argued that directors and other senior executives should be given the chance to earn more because they were running a bigger organisation. In usual economic conditions this would have accepted. However, shareholders who were approached about the proposals said they were not appropriate. One said: "It was not the best time to bring forward a plan where the potential rewards looked quite big."

Eric Daniels, Lloyds chief executive, is paid a basic salary of £1million. In 2007 he received £2.8million, including £1.8million in "performance related" pay.

The bank's other five executive directors before the HBOS takeover was announced had basic salaries of between £590,000 and £680,000.

Lloyds said: "We have robust performance targets for our executive remuneration plans."