Five east Kent Conservatives have hit back at claims they are riding a public sector gravy train after voting themselves a 15% raise in their allowances.

The quintet were among 48 county hall Conservatives who supported the rise, which will see some incomes soar by £500 per month.

Opposition Lib Dems have rounded on the decision - saying it should have been discussed ahead of the May 4 Kent County Council elections.

Among those defending the increase is Herne Bay East councillor Andrew Cook, elected to the authority in May.

He said: "Being a councillor is very involved. It’s a full-time job if you give it everything you have. I appreciate that all councillors are different and some of us work like maniacs.

"If you want to get good people in, you have to be able to make sure they can survive.

“I certainly wouldn’t have taken the decision if I didn’t think it was valid – and I think it is really valid.

“If people don’t want me to do it because they think I have taken advantage, they can vote me out next time and vote someone in who they think is better.”

The vote – taken two months after the county council elections – will see members enjoy a £1,920 increase in their annual allowance to £14,725 – the equivalent of £160 a month.

But three councillors from the Canterbury district – John Simmonds, Graham Gibbens and Mark Dance – will also receive an extra £4,105 a year for being cabinet members, bringing their annual pay bump to £6,025.

Mr Gibbens represents Canterbury City North and is the cabinet member for adult social care.

He said: "My role is effectively a full-time job and we have got to be able to attract new councillors with an allowance which enables them to fulfil roles such as adult social care.

"It involves a lot of work and it involves a lot of time in the evenings.

"There has been no increase in allowances since we took a 5.4% cut eight years ago."

The increase comes in a year when KCC raised its portion of the council tax by 4% and amid controversy over a 1% public sector pay cap.

Overseeing its finances is Canterbury North councillor John Simmonds, who argues that the improved allowances would help attract more candidates looking to be elected members.

He said: "For people who have no source income, it can be difficult to afford to do be a councillor. We want to broaden the spectrum of those representing us, but we won’t be able to do this unless we can provide an income."

Former Lord Mayor of Canterbury Ian Thomas also started life as a county councillor after May's poll.

The member for Whitstable East and Herne Bay West said: "The increase amounts to £125 per month after tax.

“This is money that I will be taking, but giving to a charity which arranges for mobile chemotherapy treatments to cancer patients.”

Thirteen Green, Lib Dem and Labour councillors voted against the 15% increase.

Nine Conservatives abstained from in the vote county hall vote on Thursday, July 13.

Canterbury South and deputy cabinet member for children's services Michael Northey was not among them.

With an allowance going up by almost £4,000 a year, the retired teacher said: " Effectively, we’ve had a pay cut and this is just playing catch up while council staff have had an increase of around 18.5% in their salaries over the same period.

“I understand it doesn’t look good and has caused a backlash, but there is never a good time.

“Being a county councillor, especially with portfolio responsibility, is pretty much a full-time job and we do a lot of hours, also in the evenings and at weekends."

Herne and Sturry member Alan Marsh claimed inquiries about the decision should be directed to group leader Paul Carter before ending the call.

Mr Carter said: "Councillors have been extremely restrained over the last eight years, having frozen their allowances since 2008, and indeed also taken a significant voluntary reduction.

“This has saved the authority in the region of £1.5 million over the last eight years.

“The award is still significantly below the national average pay increase and below the staff budget increases for KCC staff.”

Whitstable's Mark Dance, meanwhile, did not respond to attempts for a comment about the allowance increase.

But the decision has infuriated the Liberal Democrats, the council's biggest opposition group.

Canterbury South Lib Dem councillor Ida Linfield branded it “unacceptable”.

“Next time you bump over a pothole or wonder why the verges are overgrown, or why a local service is being cut, just think of the amount that this rise is costing the people of Kent,” she said.

“For the Tories to vote for this at the beginning of a four-year session means that the electors had no chance to give their opinion on it.

“I’m sure they would have done if it had been discussed before the election.”

And Faversham Lib Dem Antony Hook added: "It was in principal the wrong thing to do. They didn’t want to deal with it six months ago before the election."

The Conservative group ignored an independent report which suggested the increase be pegged at 1.5%.

Lib Dem group leader Rob Bird said: “Whatever the arguments are for increasing allowances, this should have been undertaken before the recent elections not just after.

“Members put themselves forward for election in May, knowing what the allowances they could expect and many councillors had previously stated the existing allowance levels were appropriate.”

The Taxpayers’ Alliance also attacked the decision. Its grassroots campaign manager James Price said: “Taxpayers have every right to be angry at this huge above inflation rise.

“Despite KCC pleading poverty and raising council tax this year, it has somehow found this extra money down the back of the sofa – against independent advice – to line its own pockets.”