INDUSTRIAL action by more than 200 disabled North-East workers has been averted after factory bosses and unions agreed a deal.

The GMB and TGWU unions called for workers at Remploy centres to take action after fears were voiced that the organisation was not replacing disabled workers who left.

Remploy, the biggest employer of disabled people in the UK, yesterday confirmed it had reached an agreement with the unions.

The GMB said Remploy had agreed to its demand that vacancies created when disabled people left the company would be filled by disabled people. A settlement has also been reached over pay, but both deals still have to be ratified by workers.

Remploy is a registered charity and the Government pays it a £115m annual subsidy. Its 83 sites have a combined turnover of £180m and employ 5,700 disabled staff.

Seventy-nine staff work at its Hartlepool factory making Noddy and Postman Pat pedal cars for a leading toy company.

At Spennymoor, in County Durham, 87 people work on assembly and white goods recycling.

The Stockton branch, Remploy Offiscope, has a workforce of 45. Yesterday, it won a contract with international charity Christian Blind Mission to scan 300,000 donor records into a digital database.