BUS drivers in York want a 13 per cent pay rise if the city is to avoid a new bout of strike action this year, the Evening Press has learned.

The increase - which is four times the rate of inflation - would take the salary of a FirstGroup driver from £7.50 to £8.50 an hour.

The Evening Press understands that union officials have submitted the pay claim to managers, who are believed to be considering the offer.

But it is likely to receive a cool response from the company, which today said it was expecting "new money" for salaries to be in line with the current inflation figure of 3.3 per cent.

Negotiations have started on a new pay deal following the end, in April, of a two-year settlement which resulted from a drivers' strike in 2003.

Then, drivers wanted £8 an hour, and took a series of days of industrial action in an effort to force managers at the company to accede to their demands. A compromise was reached, but thousands of commuters stayed away from the city and took an "extended Bank Holiday" during the first day of strikes in August 2003.

Paul Redgate, who has just taken over duties as York negotiator at the Transport & General Workers' Union (TGWU), said: "I have only had the opportunity to meet with shop stewards and visit the York site. Members seem dedicated and committed and I look forward with confidence that this will be reflected in the pay settlement."

Peter Edwards, First commercial director, said: "We have received a pay claim from the trade union that we are currently looking at.

"At this stage, we are not able to confirm or deny what the contents of that bid are, but we are looking at its contents. Last time, the pay settlement was really quite generous and, at the moment, the amount of new money that we have available in our budget is broadly in line within the current rate of inflation."

Updated: 10:09 Tuesday, February 01, 2005