The £6,700-a-year pay gap

Women expect to be paid the same as their male colleagues - but in fact are earning an average £6,700 a year less, a study reveals today.

At the same time, it has emerged that the pay gap in the City is wider than anywhere else in the country, with men taking home about £400 more each week than their female counterparts.

And London in general fares worse than the rest of the UK for wage discrimination, with men earning an average £200 a week more than women.

Research by the Equal Opportunities Commission found that while 88 per cent of women in the workplace expect to earn as much as a man, they are "heading for disappointment".

Secrecy surrounding the issue of wages means most women remain unaware that they are being underpaid.

"Forget sex, politics and religion, pay is the new taboo," said EOC chairwoman Julie Mellor. "In Britain today, the whole business of pay is shrouded in mystery. Discrimination flourishes when people cannot be sure they are rewarded fairly." The study showed the difference in average pay between men and women is more than £6,700 a year - an 18 per cent gap.

The EOC is now leading a campaign to encourage women to check whether they are being paid what they are due, using a salary calculator at the commission's website, www.eoc.org.uk.

Meanwhile, the GMB union published figures showing that the City and London in general come way behind other parts of the UK for pay discrimination.

The capital has an average gender pay gap of £200, compared-with £145 in south-east and eastern England, £120 in the South-West, £115 in the North-West, £113 in the West Midlands, £111 in Scotland, £109 in the East Midlands, £91 in Wales and £90 in the North-East.

GMB equal rights officer Karen Constantine said: "For too long we have seen women being paid less purely because they are women.

"The only way to resolve the problem is to ensure all employers conduct equal pay audits. There has been a lack of enthusiasm to do so voluntarily, so compulsion is the way forward."