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Sainsbury's boss was paid nearly £5m in cash and shares last year despite a drop in profits at the supermarket.

Simon Roberts' annual pay package is 229 times more than the average worker at the retail chain.

The bulk of Mr Robert's package is made up of a £1.7m bonus and £2.2m in share awards.

Shoppers are facing the highest rate of food price rises in more than four decades, leaving many households struggling with the cost of living.

Last month, Mr Roberts told the ������̳ that the business was not profiting from high food prices.

Retailers have been accused of "greedflation" but Mr Roberts said Sainsbury's had "absolutely not" put prices up to bolster profits.

Sainsbury's pre-tax profits fell to £327m in the year to 5 March from £854m in the comparable period.

The company said that Mr Roberts had received a 3.5% increase in his basic pay to £899,000.

It said this was below the minimum 5.3% increase for the company's hourly-paid workers. The average Sainsbury's employee earns around £22,000.

It total, Mr Roberts was paid £4.9m compared to £3.5m in the previous year.

Sainsbury's said it spent £560m trying to hold back prices for shoppers.

But Sharon Graham, general secretary at the Unite union said: "The supermarkets have been protesting, claiming they're not profiteering and contributing to the cost of living crisis. Meanwhile people are paying the price at the tills.

"Simon Roberts' bonanza bonus tells a very different story."

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has voiced his concern over "worryingly high" food inflation and has met with food retailers to discuss ways of reining in prices.

Retailers have said that shoppers would start to see a difference at the tills as global prices such as energy began to fall.

But figures from the Office for National Statistics show food inflation in April was stuck at 19.3%, remaining near the record high of 19.6% in the previous month.