Southern Railway drivers vote for strike action

Train drivers at Southern Railway have voted to go on strike in a row over pay.

The drivers union Aslef said hundreds of its members had decided "overwhelmingly" to take industrial action after rejecting a pay offer from the rail operator.

Southern said it would continue discussions to find a resolution. A joint meeting is planned for Thursday.

The firm runs services between London, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent.

'Finding a resolution'

More than 91% of union members backed the walkout, according to Aslef, with 95.3% supporting action short of a strike.

The turnout was 85.3%.

A spokeswoman for Southern said: "We are of course very disappointed that Aslef has rejected our above inflation pay offer.

"We will be continuing discussions with union representatives with the aim of finding a resolution and avoiding action that will affect our passengers."

Network Rail workers are set to go on strike for 24 hours from 17:00 BST on bank holiday Monday in a row over jobs and pay.

The action will see signallers, maintenance staff and station workers walk out on 25 May in the first UK-wide rail strike in 20 years.