GOVERNMENT workers in North Yorkshire responsible for paying out subsidies to farmers have called off further strike action after an agreement was reached over a wages dispute.

Staff at the Rural Payment Agency's offices in East Road, Northallerton, will be several thousand pounds better off after a deal was struck with their paymasters, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The row erupted when the department was formed last year, combining parts of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) with the Department of the Environment.

About 200 former MAFF workers found they were sharing offices with workers from the Department of the Environment who were earning up to £4,000 more a year for the same grade of job.

Several strikes took place last year, but further action has been called off after Whitehall bosses reached a compromise with the Commercial and Public Services Union that represents Defra staff.

The deal will see workers receive either a 10pc pay rise or an extra £2,000 a year, with more promised in the future. The rise will be backdated to August last year.

Mr Mick McDine, a member of the CPS executive and a worker at Northallerton, said: "We are looking at quite a bumper pay packet next month. We asked for the whole lot to be backdated to last April but only got part of it. You go into negotiations with your demand and expect to meet somewhere in the middle.

"We are very pleased with the outcome. We were disappointed to have to take industrial action."

He said the rise still left Defra workers well below average rates for other civil service departments. "The gap has closed considerably and Defra have promised to address that in the next pay round. Negotiations are ongoing and we expect an offer in July."