MORE high-ranking women executives than men are quitting Merseyside for better prospects in the South, it was claimed last night.

The female brain drain is fuelled by the bigger pay packets in London and the South East.

A new survey reveals the gap between the salaries of female and male executives nationally is narrowing to its lowest level ever.

But the Merseyside and North West region still has one of the lowest levels of women in top jobs and officials say it may be because they are heading for lucrative jobs in London and the South East.

Latest figures from the Chartered Management Institute & Remuneration Economics have revealed that, for the seventh year running, women managers received higher salary increases (5.9pc) than men (5pc).

The increase in pay means that the average female department manager is now earning just £475 less than her male counterpart (£53,257 compared with £53,732).

However, the North West is bucking the national trend and has dropped from seventh to eleventh place in a regional league table of female salaries.

The average female executive in the North West now earns £35,000 compared with £38,000 last year.

Ellen Kerr, founder of Women in Business Mersey-side, said women had come a long way but the research showed there was still a major gap between males and females in business.

She added: "Although there has been a lot of progress over recent years the gap between male and female executives still exists. Women still aren't getting the top roles for equal pay in some instances and they have to fight a lot harder.

"It is possible that women are leaving the region for higher-paid employment elsewhere. It is about time we caught up with other parts of the country in terms of the weighting of salaries, especially in light of Liverpool's title as Capital of Culture."

It was also revealed that national ly 29. 6pc of women are in management roles but only 18pc of females in the Merseyside and North West region are in similar executive positions.

Karen Charlesworth, head of research at the Chartered Management Institute & Remuneration Economics, said: "The closure of the pay gap nation-ally may be due to an increasing number of women managers working in higher-paid disciplines.

"In the North West, both the salary levels and the number of women in management roles are way below average.

"It may be that a number of women are moving south to take advantage of better- paid job opportunities."

The findings revealed that parity in pay nationally does not necessarily equate to job satisfaction as women are more likely to resign than men.

Annual labour turnover amongst UK managers is 10.8pc, but the research reveals that more women (6.4 pc) than men (3.3pc) are walking away from their jobs.

The majority of women move voluntarily, with fewer than 2pc leaving because of redundancy or retirement.

Ms Charlesworth added: "The growth in the number of female managers, often better qualified and educated than previous generations, reflects social changes and cultural shifts. More women return to work after having children and the number of dual-income families has steadily increased.

"It will still be some years before the UK achieves parity between men and women in management positions. It's a situation that many employers need to address as they cannot afford to miss out on the talents of half the workforce."

The survey was conducted among 21,000 individuals and explores remuneration packages across regions and roles in the UK.