London's outgoing transport chief Bob Kiley has said he was worth his severance package of nearly £2 million the highest ever for a public servant in Britain.

The 70-year-old American will get a £745,000 pay-off when he steps down on January 31, three years before the end of his four-year contract.

Over the next two and a half years he will earn another £736,000 as the mayor's top transport consultant.

He will also stay on for free in a £2.1 million house in Belgravia, bought for him by Transport for London (TfL) in 2001. The Georgian townhouse would cost £113,425 a year to rent.

'Value for money'

But Mr Kiley, who introduced the congestion charge and secured ₤10 billion for transport investment, told the London Assembly he deserved the money.

"I would certainly accept that it is generous - you will not hear me arguing," he said when questioned yesterday morning.

"The real question is, with the money that has already been spent on my salary, bonuses and settlement, was real value added by me and that investment to TfL?

"I, of course, have a very distinct bias but I would answer undoubtedly yes. I know not everyone will agree with that.

"I do not leave with a bleak or troubled conscience."

Roger Evans, Conservative chair of the assembly's transport Committee, disgreed: "His salary was astronomical, his Belgravia grace-and-favour townhouse outrageously extravagant.

"Buses have improved but given the money thrown at them Mickey Mouse could have done that. The Tube is still crawling along.

"Meanwhile, passengers have suffered record inflation-busting fare increases and a 60% increase in the congestion charge."

Mr Kiley also defended a £7,000 bill for parties at his home, saying he needed to make business contacts in the UK. "I do not consider that to be an outlandish item over a period of five years."

In his new post as consultant, Mr Kiley will earn £3,200 a day for 90 days in both 2006 and 2007, and another 50 days in 2008.

Yet the experienced manager admitted: "I wasn't born to be a consultant."

Six-year itch

The former CIA agent and New York subway chief blamed a six-year itch in his "genetic make-up" as his reason for leaving.

He got to a point where he was not "listening as well or changing as quickly" as before, he said, "I have never been one to stay on longer than I should."

Mr Kiley denied media reports that a row with mayor Ken Livinstone or TfL's finance director Jay Walder caused him to resign.

"It's not why I left," he said flatly.

Mr Evans replied: "This is absurd. Mr Kiley has admitted he never intended to fulfil his contract.

"On this basis he should be paying Londoners for breaking his contract. Instead, Ken Livingstone is giving him £745,000. Londoners have been ripped off."