Union leaders will hold emergency talks with West Yorkshire Ambulance Service tomorrow to try to avert planned industrial action over pay.

Members of the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) and Unison will start a joint overtime ban on November 27 - with a strike looming if there is no deal.

And the GMB union looks likely to follow suit after support was received from Spen Valley Labour MP Mike Wood who said more funding is needed for the ambulance service.

"These are public servants who are under increasing stress," he said. "On occasions they are under threat of physical assault as they go about their work and I think they have fallen behind in terms of pay."

Front-line ambulance crews as well as control staff and passenger services will refuse to work beyond their shifts during the action, which could delay response times.

Gary Baker, regional organiser for the GMB in West Yorkshire, said WYMAS currently receives £25 million a year, with demand on service increasing five per cent each year.

"As a result of this staff are being put under additional pressure with many staff not only working ten and 12 hour shifts but unable to take meal breaks and leave duty on time."

T&G members voted by a majority of 75 per cent in favour of strike action and 92 per cent to take action short of a strike over the 3.6 per cent pay offer. They have scheduled further overtime bans with Unison between December 16 and 22 and December 30 and January 5.

Steve Griffin, director of human resources at WYMAS, said he was aware of concerns about working practices and hoped to find a way forward through negotiations.

"We had hoped that these could be addressed under new national arrangements being developed for the NHS. The arrangements, however, are still not finalised and it now appears we will not be able to implement them in the near future.

"We very much hope that through constructive local discussions they will agree to defer their proposed action and that together we can resolve the issues facing us."