Top local government jobs will be lost under the planned shake-up of Welsh councils, the first minister has said.

Council leaders have warned that the proposed restructure of local government from 22 authorities to just eight or nine will cause ‘disruption and distraction’ in the sector.

However Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones has said the loss of senior jobs under the plans will be ‘a good thing’ because of the high earnings of town hall bosses.

He told BBC Radio Wales that while ‘there will be fewer people at the top’, lower level council staff ‘needn’t worry’ about losing their jobs.

Jones added that the measures were ‘not about having a go at local government’ but were instead enacting structural change to ensure it became a ‘real powerhouse’ again.

‘There will be fewer people at the top. We’ve all seen how much some chief executives have earned in Wales. So that’s a good thing, frankly,’ he said.

‘But you still need the same num of people who are collecting rubbish, you still need the same number of people who can deliver soc services in the areas. So those people needn’t worry.

‘But there will be fewer people at the top, that’s true.’