?1.5m too little for ousted A&L chief

Peter White, who was dismissed last October as chief executive of the Alliance & Leicester mortgage bank, has been handed £1.5m in compensation - and he is still claiming more.

Mr White, fired after 18 years at A&L when his boardroom colleagues said they were seeking a more "consensual style of leadership", is taking the bank to an industrial tribunal claim ing unfair dismissal. He also wants compensation for lost share options, unpaid bonuses and is believed to be demanding other ex-gratia payments which could total hundreds of thousands more.

The scale of the compensation payment handed to Mr White is disclosed in A&L's annual report, which has just been sent to shareholders.

It consists of £1.05m in lieu of two year's basic salary and a contribution to Mr White's pen sion of £533,500. Mr White had a two-year contract and a spokesman for the bank said yesterday: "We have given him only what he is contractually entitled to."

The bank has pledged to fight Mr White's claim for unfair dismissal, even if it ends in an embarrassing tribunal appearance.

In addition to the payoff, Mr White was also paid a salary of £438,000 for the months before he was fired and in that time also received a bonus of £110,000 and benefits in kind valued at £49,000.

Neither Mr White, who had a reputation for dictatorial leadership, nor the bank has revealed much detail of the events which led to his departure. But it has been claimed that Mr White was jettisoned after the A&L held merger talks with the Woolwich, without including him.

The company has so far failed to replace Mr White.