Top of the 2006 UK pay league, unsurprisingly are company directors and chief executives with mean gross annual pay of £181,491, according to the new list by the GMB union.

The league ranks all 346 occupational groups in the UK by using official pay data for April 2006.

Brokers were second in the league on £95,907, third were financial managers on £87,280. Also in the top half of the league were train drivers on £35,922 (53), police officers - sergeant and below - receiving £35,578 (57).

Journalists were 76th on £32,583, primary and nursery teachers were 89th on £31,114, and midwives came 99th on £30,052.

In the bottom half of the leagues were electricians on £26,151 (140), nurses on £25,724 (146), van drivers on £18,040 (267), and bar staff on £11,799 (341).

At the very bottom were leisure and theme park attendants on £10, 698.

Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary, says: "The figures are sound and reflect the upstairs downstairs nature of pay rewards in the UK. We have the average pay for company directors at more than 16 times what 1.3 million on the national minimum wage are paid.

"There is another problem too. People at the bottom and the middle pay tax and National Insurance on all their pay while those at the top are able to exploit all sorts of loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of tax. It is essential that we have a fair and progressive tax system and that everyone pays their fair share."