STRIKING workers at a Stockton factory have agreed to a fresh round of talks with managers in a bid to break the deadlock.

Bosses at British Polythene Industries (BPI), also known as Visqueen, agreed to hold a meeting with conciliation service Acas and union representatives on Tuesday.

The meeting comes ahead of more one-day strikes at the factory on Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16.

Joe Keith, of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), said the series of one-day strikes were costing BPI thousands of pounds.

He said: "Acas has been involved before, but we are hopeful some progress can be made at this meeting.

"All our members want is a three per cent pay rise. It isn't exorbitant by any stretch of the imagination, but the company said they couldn't stretch to it.

"But the company's accounts statement that was put out in June clearly indicates that although they are having trouble, profits are not too bad."

Mr Keith said workers at other BPI sites had enjoyed better remuneration packages than his members in Stockton.

"Hopefully, on Tuesday both sides can step back and look at it from a fresh point of view to see if anything can be done," he said.

"At the moment, this is costing the company thousands of pounds - maybe more than the pay settlement would have cost them."

Despite managers saying last year that if strike action went ahead it would be forced to transfer work away from the Stockton site, Mr Keith said there had been no indication of work going elsewhere during the series of one-day stoppages.

Visqueen said it could not afford a three per cent pay rise, and offered workers 2.8 per cent - 0.3 per cent of which would be self-financed.

But workers voted to reject the pay offer and are holding out for three per cent.

BPI is concerned that the strike action - believed to be the first in the plant's history - is undermining the competitiveness of the business.