Women are on the brink of overtaking men as the top earners on Oxfordshire County Council.

Unions are claiming that male domination is over on the best-run councils, with Oxfordshire a shining example, as women break through the 'glass ceiling'.

New figures show that of the highest-earning five per cent at the county council, 49 per cent are women.

In a league table published by the GMB union, Oxfordshire's female council employees are third in the South East for salaries.

The only councils in the South East where women are doing better than in Oxfordshire are Essex (54 per cent) and Luton (50 per cent). Women are faring much worse in Reading (44 per cent), Buckinghamshire (40 per cent) and Milton Keynes (34 per cent).

At the bottom of the league are the Isle of Wight and Southend, where just 28 per cent of the top jobs are held by women.

County councillor Margaret Godden said: "This is the result of the council's positive attitude and not just chance.

"Ensuring equal opportunity has been a long-established policy of this county, certainly over the last 20 years, and it's clearly paying off.

"We've had working groups looking at our equality performance to such an extent that it has become ingrained in our culture.

"In recent years several chief officers have been women. Although it is policy, naturally, to appoint the best person for any job, it is always pleasing for me when that person happens to be a woman." She said the top five per cent earners were on "upper-five-figure salaries".

The recently appointed new head of finance is a woman - Sue Scane.

She will take over in September from finance chief Chris Gray. Her first task will be to handle the fallout from the independent investigation into the £11m unaccounted for in the social and health care accounts.

Other women in top county council jobs are Sue Corrigan, the human resources manager, and Nicky Kirkwood, head of media and communications.

Mrs Godden added: "I'm not the least surprised by these statistics," which are most gratifying.

"But we mustn't be complacent. There are still not enough women in medium grade posts to come through to the very top posts. When we're interviewing for top posts, we find there'll be only one woman candidate and four men, on average."

Justin Bowden, GMB senior organiser, said: "When the trade union movement pressed local councils to follow equal opportunities recruitment policies, the object was to ensure that the male domination of the top posts in council was brought to an end.

"These figures demonstrate that if employers put their mind to it, women can get a fair deal and break through the glass ceiling."