Wiltshire Council chief executive Andrew Kerr has proposed cutting more jobs at the local authority to save his own.

Last week Mr Kerr was told that his job and that of one of four corporate directors were under threat so that £500,000 could be cut from the council’s cash-strapped budget.

In a bid to save his £189,000 per year post, Mr Kerr has asked the council’s political leaders to consider his alternative plan, which would save his job and pass on the extra cuts to the administrative budget of the council.

But he admitted the plan is unlikely to sway the decision-makers before their September 26 meeting.

He said: “I would prefer to stay but I think the administration are pushing forward their case.”

Deputy leader John Thomson said: “We will consider all proposals for the staff because they are very professional people but we want to take the savings out from the very top rather than further down the line or at the point of delivery.

“It is not a pleasant experience and it is very difficult for Andrew but it has also been difficult for the other 300 people who have taken redundancy.”

Councillors close to the administration, who did not want to be named, suggested that Mr Kerr’s sudden proposed departure was partly the result of a tense relationship with Coun Thomson in recent months.

Mr Kerr, 52, who has only been in his post for 18 months, said: “You are not always going to agree with each other on every decision that is made.

“Having said that I don’t think there’s any more tension than you would probably find in other local authorities.”

Coun Thompson said: “Jane and I have had a good relationship with Andrew but he has been a victim of his own success. We are in a difficult position and we have to make the right decisions for Wiltshire.

“I am very happy to say that Andrew did a very good job.”

Mr Kerr said he had received messages of support from colleagues, other chief executives and from friends while his wife had been extremely supportive.

He said: “The leader and deputy came in to tell me that it was one of the considerations. It came out of the blue and so I told her that I was surprised and would have to go away and think about what they had said.

“I perceive that it would be more helpful for the council and for myself if I were to go reasonably quickly if that is the decision. I don’t think it is the best structure. It is better to have one person who makes the decisions and also takes responsibility.”

Mr Kerr had argued that other local authorities in the 1990s cut their chief executives but later brought the post back because the plan had failed – an argument refuted by Coun Thomson who said what is right for Wiltshire may not be the same as in other local authorities.

Mr Kerr, a father-of-three, says he intends to stay in local government but will not move from Wiltshire immediately having only just bought a house in Neston, near Corsham.

Critics of the plan to scrap the post of chief executive will be looking at next door Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) which has considered doing the same. A recent report to councillors rejected the idea.

William Harding, head of human resources at BANES, said: “As well as providing a single point for the delivery of a corporate agenda, a chief executive provides a clear focal point for both members and officers, critical at a time of significant change and the uncertainty that goes with it.”

Mr Harding said that handing power to a group of corporate directors would “give rise to a perceived lack of corporate clarity and objectivity”.

BANES employed an independent advisor who warned against moving away from having a chief executive, while members of the council workers’ union Unison said that the role was vital and should be kept.