The director of gambling firm Bet365 has taken home the biggest pay packet in UK history with £421 million.

Denise Coates, who is building a £90 million mansion near Sandbach, received the pay for the 2020/21 financial year in the form of salary and dividends, despite a fall in company revenues, the Guardian reports.

The monumental sum equates to Ms Coates receiving £48,000 for every hour of every day over the 12 month period.

Bet365, which is based in Stoke-On-Trent, was founded by Ms Coates with her family in 2000, and she is understood to be the majority shareholder and chief executive.

Ms Coates took the business from a portacabin to one of the biggest gambling firms in the country.

Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre think tank, criticised the pay packet, saying: "It's appallingly inefficient for single individuals to hoard wealth in this way."

Along with her father Peter and brother John, the Coates family have a wealth of £7.1 billion, according to The Sunday Times rich list.

When factoring in the firm's corporate tax, the family are also the UK's biggest taxpayers with £500 million reportedly paid last year.

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Ms Coates' mega-mansion was approved four years ago by Cheshire East Council and is under construction on parklands in Hassall Green.

Plans for the 52-acre estate include an artificial lake, sunken tennis courts, ornamental gardens and a boathouse.

Britain's highest paid woman reportedly paid £5.5 million, buying up land surrounding the estate and planted 200 trees to ensure maximum privacy.