Employees at the site were due to begin a walkout for 72-hours at 6am this morning, following a 48-hour strike last week and a 24-strike the previous week.

The 84 employees will now begin striking at 6am on Wednesday morning, running into the weekend.

Unite national officer Steve Sibbald said: "The chapel feels this will be more effective. With the weekend coming afterwards it will be almost five days with hardly any movement."

The Unite members are striking over what they perceive as a less than acceptable pay rise. According to Unite, the employees went without a pay rise last year, while the rest of the business received a 2% increase.

OUP offered a 2% rise across the board this year, but the warehouse staff are asking for 4.2% to account for last year's freeze.

A second offer of 2.5% was made several weeks ago, but that was also rejected by the chapel. Sibbald added: "A half a percent is not going to do when the members are asking for 4.2%."