PRISON Service civil servants in Preston are taking part in two days of industrial action in protest of below-inflation pay offers.

More than 2,000 north west members of the Public and Commercial Services Union plan to take the action after pay talks reached a stalemate earlier this week. Regional union officer David Wilkinson said: "Our members only take strike action as a last resort and we have tried to find a solution through dialogue and negotiations but have come up against a brick wall.

"PCS has members earning less than £11,000 in these departments and all we ask is a fair deal to end the problem of low pay in the civil service."

A rally by ministry workers and instructional officers will take place at the 55th Division Association, Church Street, Preston, at 12.30pm on Thursday and Friday January 29 and 30.

Workers taking part are from the prison service, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home office. Union members in the Department of Work and Pensions called off their action at the eleventh hour after their bosses agreed to further negotiations.

A Home Office spokesman was unavailable for comment.