Prison officers end strike action

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The Prison Officers Association said 20,000 of its members took part in the walkout from 7am on Wednesday, which took the Government and prison authorities completely by surprise.

The Ministry of Justice obtained an injunction in the High Court against the POA which it expected would lead to a return to work.

But most prison officers remained on strike for several hours after the court move and looked set to continue taking action until 7am on Thursday.

However the union's executive decided later to end the stoppage and said fresh talks will be held on Friday.

Steve Gough, vice-chairman of the POA, said Justice Secretary Jack Straw, had offered "full and meaningful" talks over the pay dispute which had persuaded the union's executive to call off the strike.

He claimed that the Government did not serve the court injunction on the union and said the action was only called off because of the offer of peace talks.

Mr Straw said: "I am glad that the POA has issued this instruction to return to work."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said Mr Straw had arranged to meet the union's leadership on Friday before he knew about Wednesday's strikes.

The strike was held in protest at the Government's controversial decision to pay a recommended 2.5% wage rise in two stages, reducing the value of the award to 1.9%.