FIRST bus services between Huddersfield and Bradford are being affected today as 180 bus drivers at the firm's Huddersfield depot are taking part in a 24-hour strike.

Drivers who are members of the Unite union are taking industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions with a number of services cancelled.

Unite regional officer Phil Bown told the Telegraph & Argus that as well as the pay claim, the dispute centred on First's plans to reduce the number of holidays for new drivers. He added that further industrial action was planned for December 16 in a three-day walkout.

Bus operator First is hoping to run a reduced service between 7.30am to 6.15pm on many routes.

Services to Bradford will be affected, with the 363 not running and the X63 operating a special hourly service. The X6 service which runs from Huddersfield to Bradford, then on to Leeds, is running as normal as it is no operated by the Huddersfield depot.

Other First depots in West Yorkshire are not taking part in the strike action and those services are running as normal.

It follows similar strike action in Bradford by First bus drivers earlier this year in a dispute over the transfer of jobs to another depot.