DEFENCE workers have started a pre-Christmas 10-day strike in a long-running dispute over pay.

Members of Unite at the Defence Support Group (DSG) walked out yesterday in protest at a 1% pay offer.

The latest action at the group, which maintains, repairs and overhauls military equipment for the Ministry of Defence, follows six days of strike action in recent weeks.

The main sites affected are at Warminster, Bovington (Dorset), Catterick (North Yorkshire), Colchester, Donnington (Shropshire) and Stirling, Sealand (North Wales).

Mike McCartney, Unite national officer, said: "As the DSG is fattened up to be privatised, workers who support our armed forces have had pay cuts in real terms of nearly 18%.

"The DSG is a cash-rich organisation which can well afford a decent pay rise. Management should be under no illusion about the resolve of our members as this latest action, which is the longest in the group's history, demonstrates.

"Any backlogs in repairs and maintenance of key military equipment sit squarely with DSG management who need to get back around the negotiating table to hammer out a fair pay deal."

An MoD spokesperson said: "It is disappointing that Unite is pressing ahead with strike action over a proposed 1% pay rise, which is in line with the offer to the wider civil service.

"The public can rest assured this industrial action will have no impact on ongoing military operations or capability."