Russell Hart, the chairman of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the University Hospital of Hartlepool, has been given a pay rise from £20,000 a year to £50,000.

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Hospital chief executive Alan Foster said Mr Hart was given the pay rise due to an increase in his responsibilities after the organisation became a foundation trust late last year, which makes the trust able to take more control of its budget.

Mr Hart, who is a former leader of Hartlepool Borough Council and is a magistrate, is designated to work three days a week in the job, but says he often works five days on trust matters.

But health campaigners described the rise as "mind blowing and excessive" and union officials said hospital staff, who are currently fighting for a pay rise above the proposed two per cent, should also get an increase they deserve.

Liz Twist, regional head of health for Unison, which represents members in the health sector, said front-line staff are also an integral part of the foundation trust and they should also be in line for a "sizable pay increase".

Hospital campaigner Keith Fisher said: "The percentage is mind blowing. It is excessive considering it is a part- time job.

"I expect the remuneration for such a job to be irrelevant, I think it should be a nominal sum for expenses. I think a 150 per cent increase cannot be right."

And Greatham councilor Geoff Lilley added: "I think it is absolutely obscene.

"Especially when you think of the people at the lower end of the pay scale at the hospital.

"I just feel that bearing in mind all that's happened in the trust over the last few years, to have a 150 per cent increase I find insulting, and many people in Hartlepool I would imagine would feel the same.

"And I imagine many people in the NHS, if they were allowed to speak, would also be perturbed."

The decision was made at the first meeting of the Council of Governors of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and was based on guidance from the Foundation Trust Network.

Trust chief executive Alan Foster said the decision was made due to Mr Hart now having increased responsibilities as a result of the trust gaining foundation status.

The governors also decided to increase pay for non-executive directors from £6,000 to £11,000 a year, and those who also chair the trust's audit and finance and the clinical governance committee will receive £4,000 on top of the annual remuneration.