Rail strike threat over pensions

Aslef said 175 of its members based at a depot in Bletchley, near Milton Keynes will take industrial action on the last two days of February following the breakdown of talks.

The union said its members' pensions were being "radically reduced" because of mistakes by the company, which Aslef claimed would cost £1.4 million to put right.

Aslef warned of further industrial action if the dispute was not resolved.

London Midland operates train services through the heart of England, connecting London, the Midlands and the North West, running more than 1,200 services a day.

Meanwhile, dozens of railway signal workers are to stage two 24-hour strikes in a row over the job of one of their colleagues.

More than 50 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union in the Lincoln area will walk out on February 23 and March 1, with a warning that more signallers will be balloted for action if the dispute is not resolved.

The union claimed that a Network Rail operations manager with 33 years' experience had been made redundant when he should have been offered another post.

"Network Rail has effectively torn up the existing agreement and tried to deal with our member under a process that has never been agreed, and his colleagues have rallied round to defend their workmate and their conditions," said RMT general secretary Bob Crow.

The union warned that it would ballot all signallers and supervisors between Doncaster and London's King's Cross if the dispute was not settled within seven days. The Lincoln workers voted by four to one in favour of industrial action.