Public sector workers will have to pay up to £3,000 a year more to keep their retirement schemes, it was announced today.

Millions of doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants learned how much extra they will have to contribute to their pension pots as ministers outlined the precise details of the shake-up.

However, 750,000 of the lowest paid will be spared from the hike. The remaining five million in pension schemes will be hit, with the top earners paying the most.

In the first year, the best-paid 40,000 public sector workers earning well over £100,000, such as council chiefs and headteachers, will pay an additional £284 a month – £3,400 a year – for their final salary schemes.

A doctor on £100,000 a year will pay almost £2,000 a year more, with teachers paying £1,752 and civil servants £2,100. Those who take home £50,000 a year and work in the NHS will pay £768 a year extra, with teachers paying £696 and civil servants £684.

Workers in the £35,000 bracket will have to find an extra £516 a year, while those on a £21,000 salary will pay an additional £108 a year. The overall extra contributions will total almost £3 billion a year as further increases are introduced until 2015.

The reforms represent a near doubling in contributions for civil servants, while doctors and teachers face increases of around 30 per cent and 50 per cent.

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