Councils have spent more than £600m on severance packages for axed staff, official figures have revealed.

A report into local government finance by Audit Scotland, the official government spending watchdog, showed thousands of payments have been handed out over the last six years.

Since the beginning of the financial year 2011/12, 15,000 packages have been given to departing council staff.

The total bill for the payments reached £627m during the period, with an average of £40,000 given to ex-employees.

Six golden goodbye deals were agreed each day last year alone with a cost to councils of £78m.

The Scottish Conservatives said taxpayers' money is "being needlessly wasted" on the payments.

Alexander Stewart, the party's local government spokesman, said: "People will be horrified that hundreds of millions of pounds have been used in this way.

"Everyone understands the need for councils to become more efficient and reducing the headcount in certain departments may be a way of doing that.

"But the average payout is £40,000, which means some senior staff will have been getting golden goodbyes to make the eyes water."

He added: "There's no point trying to make efficiency savings in one area while millions are being needlessly wasted in another.

"It's no wonder some councils are burning through their cash reserves just to keep their head above water when this massive spend is considered."

A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said: "It is wrong to see these figures in isolation, they have to be viewed in context.

"Many of them will be as a result of streamlining in line with workforce planning - as councils streamline.

"Also, many will be spend to save departures that result in savings over the longer term."