YORKSHIRE WATER workers could strike over a 2.5 per cent pay offer, union leaders said today.

Unison says that more than 1,600 workers look set to take industrial action up to and including a strike, but the company has branded its claims "alarmist and misleading".

However, both sides agree that if there were to be a strike, Yorkshire Water customers would not see their water supply affected.

Unison, with the backing of other unions, has given notice to Yorkshire Water that it is to ballot members on industrial action.

It says the move follows the rejection by 95 per cent of Yorkshire Water's workforce of the company's 2.5 per cent pay offer.

Unison officials say the pay offer is below that being offered by other water companies and way behind average awards in the private sector.

They say some shift workers' pay will drop by £2,500 a year because of proposed changes to weekend shift payments.

The pay offer comes after the announcement of 500 job losses in April.

Chris Lamb, Unison's regional officer for Yorkshire and Humberside, said the pay offer would have a devastating effect on the morale of existing employees and make future recruitment and retention of staff a nightmare.

Mr Lamb said: "Our members are deeply concerned about the effect on public health of this constant under-investment in key technical and administrative staff."

He said the average take-home pay of the staff to be balloted was £200 a week.

Members will be balloted on whether to take industrial action up to and including strike action.

But Unison says its prime concern would be to protect a safe water supply for the public if there was a strike and said they would be more interested in affecting the company's ability to collect rates.

Yorkshire Water said there were contingency plans in place to make sure customers' water supplies were protected but stressed a strike was a long way off.

The company says trade union members, who represent 62 per cent of the workforce, have not even been given the opportunity to vote on whether or not to accept to revised offer of 2.5 per cent.

It says the unions have chosen not to put the offer to their members and have chosen instead to go straight for a ballot for industrial action.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said: "As well as reducing operating costs, the new flexible working arrangements we are proposing will greatly enhance the quality of the service we provide our 4.5 million customers by making us a more reliable and responsive company.

"We have a duty to customers to ensure that we operate as efficiently as possible and put the money raised through their bills to the best use possible."

It said the latest offer was in line with other companies of a comparable size.

"To suggest health and safety is at risk is nonsense and deliberately alarmist."