A cut in the number of senior managers must be considered as part of Kent County Council's drive to plug a £200million shortfall over the next three years, say unions.

Unison said KCC should protect lower paid staff and has urged the ruling Conservative administration to curb the number of its senior officers as part of cost-cutting measures.

David Lloyd, secretary of the Kent branch of Unison, said: "It will be crucial that KCC looks at what they can do to slim down on its high earners.

"That will be a critical part of whatever they do. There has been some concern about the number of people who are high earners and people getting bonuses and we would welcome a review in that area."

KCC expects to cut up to 700 posts.

Cllr John Simmonds (Con), cabinet member for finance, said KCC was not ring-fencing senior staff.

"Not all the jobs will be at grass roots level," he said. "We have never said that all posts will be at a junior level. It is a question of watch this space."

A survey conducted by the campaign group the Taxpayers' Alliance earlier this year revealed KCC had 30 senior managers earning more than £100,000 , double the previous year.

Mr Lloyd said staff were disappointed not to have been brought into discussions about KCC's budget shortfall. "It has come out of the blue," he added.

Opposition Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Trudy Dean said it was questionable whether key services could be protected.

She said: "If you are going to delete posts that have not been filled for a long time, you are not saving money. Until KCC tells us where these six or seven hundred posts are, it is difficult to tell whether frontline services can be protected."