CLEANSING staff in Preston have voted to hold no more unofficial strikes after resolving their differences with Preston Borough Council.

Staff from the borough's cleansing department downed tools last week in protest at the council's handling of the drink-drive conviction of a supervisor.

They claimed that had normal council policy been implemented, the employee should have faced a gross misconduct charge - which normally results in dismissal. The cleaners claimed favouritism had led to him being given a job in another department.

At a meeting last week, council officers told the trade union representative that the decision taken in the recent case had been properly and carefully arrived at following normal disciplinary procedure.

The decision took into account the exceptional and unprecedented circumstances of the case.

Town clerk Jim Carr said: "Despite this unofficial action the Council's cleansing services did continue with minimal disruption, although the actions of this section did cause some inconvenience.

"But everything is fully operational."

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