MORE than 400 bus drivers will strike from next week after Stagecoach West of Scotland failed to improve on its “unacceptable” pay offer in last-minute talks.

The initial 4 per cent deal had been roundly rejected by workers back in November, prompting a 98 per cent vote in favour of strike action.

Since then talks have continued, but according to Unite, Stagecoach West of Scotland have not budged.

Now furious workers at depots in Ayr, Arran, Ardrossan and Kilmarnock servicing bus routes across Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Glasgow, will take three one-day strikes — on May 26, June 2 and June 6 — followed by six weeks of continuous action starting on June 9 lasting until July 21, in a bid to force a change in approach.

Unite industrial officer Siobhan McCready said: “Stagecoach West Scotland have not improved their pay offer in six months.

“The drivers are being asked to fund a pay rise by working longer hours, taking longer unpaid breaks and losing a week of annual leave.

“This is simply unacceptable and it will not be tolerated by Unite.”

She warned: “Widespread and prolonged industrial action is set to hit bus services across the west of Scotland because this company doesn’t seem capable of listening to its workers.

“It’s not right that the drivers are the lowest paid across the whole of the Stagecoach group. Our members deserve a fair rate and that’s what we are determined to get for them.”

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “Despite our best efforts to reach an agreement and avoid industrial action we must now focus on putting practical plans in place.

“We urge Unite to reconsider its position.”