National Union of Journalists members at the Spalding Guardian were today due to strike over pay.

Members at the Lincolnshire paper have voted to hold two five-day strikes, the first of which was scheduled to begin today.

On Thursday, representatives from Welland Valley Newspapers, owners of the Spalding Guardian, had met with the NUJ in the hope of finding a solution to the dispute.

The union said that following an improved offer from the newspaper company, which would have seen current trainees get a 20 per cent pay rise, and newly-qualified seniors' wages rise from £12,000 to £15,000, the chapel held a secret ballot.

A vote to go ahead with the strike was unanimous.

Regional NUJ organiser Miles Barter said: "The sticking point for the chapel is that new starters would still only get £10,500 and those with some management responsibility would only get £16,000.

"A number of seniors would also get just a 2.5 per cent rise.

"We put a package to the company that would have solved the dispute, which included a new pay scale and a one-off payment of £500 for seniors, but this was rejected."

No-one from Welland Valley Newspapers was available for comment.