Members of the GMB union at 11 trusts in England and Wales are being balloted in the coming weeks amid continuing industrial unrest in many sectors of the economy.

NHS workers in other unions, including nurses, are also being asked if they want to take strike action over pay. Staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service are among those who will take part in the GMB ballot.

The union said its members were angry over the Government's imposed four per cent pay award, describing it as "another massive real terms pay cut."

Members of the GMB union at 11 trusts in England and Wales are being balloted in the coming weeks on whether to strike over pay

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has urged unions to "carefully consider" the impact on patients.

But Rachel Harrison, GMB acting national secretary, said: "Ambulance workers don't do this lightly and this would be the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years.

"But more than 10 years of pay cuts, plus the cost-of-living crisis, means workers can't make ends meet. They are desperate.

"This is much more about patient safety at least as much about pay.

"Delays up to 26 hours and 135,000 vacancies across the NHS mean a third of GMB ambulance workers think a delay they've been involved with has led to a death.

"Ambulance workers have been telling the Government for years things are unsafe. No one is listening."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We value the hard work of NHS staff and are working hard to support them - including by giving over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.

"Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients."

Ambulance workers in Yorkshire to begin voting on whether to strike over pay