A UNION and train company are going full steam ahead to win public support for their cause as a row over pay rolls on.

The RMT and Arriva Trains Northern have been in dispute for seven months and 672 conductors are preparing to stage their fifteenth one day strike next Saturday.

East Lancashire rail commuters are getting fed up finding alternative forms of transport every time the TransPennine Express is hit by the industrial action.

MPs, rail user groups and business leaders have all previously called for the dispute to be resolved.

Conductors put leaflets on seats apologising to passengers for striking in May and they are continuing to claim a four per cent pay-offer is unfair in the run up to Saturday's strike.

Union bosses are trying to win public support by asking passengers to write to the RMT to put the new terms to a ballot.

Ray Price, managing director of ATN, said: "We recently increased our offer from three to four per cent after the RMT indicated the offer would be accepted.

"We are therefore both astonished and frustrated that the RMT then decided to reject the offer without putting it to the vote of their members.

"The effect of strike action on our customers and employees in pursuit of the RMT's unrealistic demand is intolerable."

But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said members were unhappy as drivers had received an 18 per cent pay rise on April 1.

"The time has come for Arriva to understand that it can end this dispute by getting around a table with us and hammering out a fair pay deal."

Passengers are urged to check before travelling on the TransPennine Express through Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley next Saturday. Call 0870 602 3322 or 0845 7 48 49 50.