THOUSANDS of public sector workers are set to strike across the Fylde Coast next week in a dispute over pensions.

Members of Unison, the Transport and General Workers Union, Amicus, Ucatt and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will take part in a day of action next Wednesday (March 23).

Unions are fighting a Government proposal for a compulsory rise in the pension age from 60 to 65 and the removal of the final salary pension scheme.

The PCS, which represents more than 8,000 civil servants across Lancashire. Martin Jones, chairman of the PCS' Fylde Coast, Preston and Filestores branch, which represents more than 2,300 members, mainly at the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The one-day strike on March 23 is not a step we have taken lightly, especially when it is the biggest strike in a generation involving the whole of the civil service.

"We expect a good turnout and a clear message to be sent to the Government. In addition, we are confident that hundreds of other public sector workers will be taking action to defend their pension rights." Duncan Griffiths, branch secretary, added: "It was only two years ago that the civil service pension scheme was changed. "Yet now we have the Government proposing more changes, laying out a set of fait accompli proposals that mean people will have to work longer to receive their pension.

"The radical move away from a final salary scheme, allied with the pension age rise, will only create uncertainty and deny people choices about their future."

The branch will also use the strike to protest against proposed job cuts and the possible privatisation of office services.