WORKERS at British Gas have announced a further five days of strike action in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

The GMB Union has announced that engineers will stage the strikes later this month and in February over the ongoing dispute.

Thousands of workers began a five day strike last Thursday over attempts by British Gas to push through pay cuts with the threat of dismissal, GMB said.

Centria, which owns British Gas, said it has done everything it can to avoid the strike, but GMB accused it of provoking the action.

The GMB said British Gas staff had faced "months of fire and rehire pay cut threats from a company that made £901 million operating profit".

It is the first national gas strike in a decade, and four more days of strike action are due to take place on Janaury 20, 22, 25, 29 and February 1.

More than 90 per cent of GMB members backed the initial industrial action in protest to the planned pay cuts with the threat of sackings.

Centrica said it had done "everything we can" and said the GMB was "intent on causing disruption to customers during the coldest weekend of the year, amid a global health crisis and in the middle of a national lockdown".

Last June Centrica announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs, and has said 83 per cent of staff have already accepted new terms, which it says protect base pay and pensions.

Are you a striking British Gas worker in Bradford? Contact us on david.jagger@nqyne.co.uk and tell us why