BUS drivers have voted overwhelmingly to mount a series of strikes in protest over pay.

It is the first time staff at Halton Transport have threatened to take industrial action in the company’s 106-year history.

Drivers, garage technicians and other workers at the depot in Moor Lane, Widnes postponed their first stoppage set for Monday, August 24 after union representatives and management met with Acas.

Further crisis talks are scheduled for today (Wednesday) and possibly Thursday.

But employees warn they will walk out on September 7, 14, 21 and 28 if negotiations are not successful.

Unite regional official Neil Clarke said: “It is an extreme and desperate measure.

“Drivers go to work with the desire and intention to provide a service not to disrupt.

“They are members of the community. Their family and friends rely on the service they provide to get to and from work.

“This is their last, desperate attempt to bring about remedy and resolution.”

He said most of the 130 employees are union members and almost 90 per cent support strike action.

He said: “There has been quite a rapid decline in employee relations in the last two years. Things have got progressively worse.

“There is a feeling among staff that they are not treated with dignity and respect.

“There are a lot of issues that need resolving. It extends beyond pay.”

He said many long-serving employees are now at ‘the end of their tether’.

He added: “This isn’t some throwaway gesture.

“We have a group of workers who have a history of not falling out.

"This is something that hasn’t happened in a century.

“We want to avoid at all cost strike action. This is unprecedented.

“Our senior representatives are working hard to come up with options that are viable to both members and the employer.”

A company spokesman said Halton Transport chief executive Colin Stafford was ‘unavailable for comment’.

Halton Transport operates services from Runcorn and Widnes to Warrington, St Helens, Liverpool, Whiston, Prescot and Huyton.