FOUR of the five new directors at Swindon Council have been announced.

They were chosen after more than 100 people applied for the top jobs.

But despite an advertising campaign costing £30,000 to attract people from around the country three of the jobs have gone to people already working for the council.

The new directors, Hilary Pitts, Gavin Jones, Celia Carrington and Marie Rosenthal, will each be paid about £120,000.

Currently directors are paid between £85,000 and £105,000 but the council says the reduced number of posts covers the cost of the new higher salaries.

Mike Bawden, leader of Swindon Council, said he was delighted that his new top team is beginning to take shape.

"Last month, we made 50 promises to local people in our Swindon 2010 document," he said.

"Those promises are challenging and non-negotiable.

"What my cabinet needs, to deliver those promises, is a strong leadership team which can make this council one of the best in the country.

"The members of the council have set the highest standards for these posts because we have to get it right.

"We have been very tough on all the candidates in the selection process we aimed to find the very best people and I'm confident that we have done so.

"I'd like to congratulate Marie, Hilary, Gavin and Celia on their success." The five new posts which were advertised in the national press were for group directors for children's services; environment and leisure; housing and social care; partnerships and performance, and resources.

The position of the group director for housing and social care is still open. The council say work is still continuing with potential candidates for this role and they are hoping to fill it by the end of the month. The candidates were interviewed by a cross-party panel of councillors and the chief executive and announcement of all five was due to be made by July 29.

More than 600 people asked for application forms for the five highly-paid director jobs within a week of them being advertised in the national press.