Almost 100 Bristol University staff earn more than £100,000 a year – and vice-chancellor Eric Thomas's salary package is more than £300,000, new figures reveal.

A survey of higher education pay shows Mr Thomas is the eighth highest-paid university chief in the country while Steve West, the vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England, earns £255,000 and six other members of UWE's senior team are paid more than £100,000. Their pay rise this year is 0.5 per cent.

Both universities are cutting jobs and the University and College Union UCU says there is no justification for vice-chancellors having bigger pay packets than the Prime Minister in those circumstances.

The figures for Bristol University show that 42 of the 91 top earners had salaries that included payments for work for the NHS – many consultants at city centre hospitals also have teaching roles and are counted as university employees. The other 49 high earners had an income of more than £100,000 without any NHS payments.

Barry Taylor, director of communications for the university, said that Mr Thomas's pay or £271,000, which rises to £309,000 including pension contributions, was similar to that of other leading Russell Group universities.

"The pay of the VC and other leading figures is determined by an independent remuneration committee chaired by the chairman of the governing body. The VC has no role in the matter, although he and the rest of the senior team have requested that they receive no pay rise this year as well (2010)."

Keith Hicks, marketing director for UWE, confirmed the survey figures, which came from an investigation by a national newspaper.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "The pay rises senior staff, in particular vice-chancellors, have enjoyed in recent years have been a constant source of ridicule for higher education. There is no transparency or justification for the arbitrary, and usually enormous, rises they receive."

Last year it was revealed that Mr Thomas had given £100,000 to the university's centenary appeal – without asking his wife. He said at the time: "I felt I could not go around asking other people to give significant amounts to our appeal if I'm not prepared to do it myself.

"Those at the top hide behind the clandestine world of remuneration committees as an excuse for their massive salaries, whilst the majority of staff have to drag the employers kicking and screaming to agree any sort of pay increase."

"With such a history of snouts in the trough, it should not come as a surprise that staff have little faith in their vice-chancellors when they say jobs have to go to balance the books."