Thousands of Metropolitan Police civilian staff will strike for two days next week over the imposition of pay cuts, the Public and Commercial Services union announced yesterday.

The 48-hour stoppage on February 12 and 13 will coincide with the next planned Tube strikes.

The unions have co-ordinated their action because while the industrial issues are separate "there are clear links in that the cuts to both essential services are being driven by the government's obsession with austerity."