The boss of First Group earned more than £1 million in salaries and bonuses last year despite Avanti West Coast’s mixed performance.

Avanti West Coast’s contract was extended last year by a minimum of three years after the government judged them to have made improvements.

Avanti had been under significant pressure to improve after the government twice extended their contract by just six months, but the government has now awarded the company a core term of 3 years and a maximum possible term of 9 years on the West Coast Mainline.

The operator had been criticised by Cumbrian politicians of all parties after months of poor performance through the county with some calling for the franchise to be stripped completely.

READ MORE: Call for Avanti West Coast to be nationalised over poor performance

Avanti West Coast cancelled more that 16,000 services in the 12 months to March, which is more than 8 per cent of services but chief executive Graham Sutherland was paid £1.2 million.

A First Group spokesman said: “Last year we saw strong financial performance, due to growth in First Bus and in our open access rail companies Hull Trains and Lumo.

“We paid around £2billion in wages to our 30,000 people nationwide, of which Avanti is just one part.”