WORKERS at a Blackpool factory went on a one-day strike this week in protest over a pay and redundancy package.

And despite the department's canteen staff being instructed not to sell the strikers any refreshments by the management, the men remained in good humour and spent the day in fancy dress handing out lollipops outside the factory gate.

Around 30 men in the logistics department at Arvin Replacement Products, Squires Gate Lane Industrial Estate, picketed the main gates on Tuesday (June 13) after rejecting a 1.9 per cent offer.

The workers are demanding a five per cent package to bring them in line with colleagues at sister company Arvin Industries based next door -- namely a £1,000 a man redundancy package with £500 for every year over 20.

Shop steward Steve Rose said: "It is all about fairness. It's not right that workers in one part of the company get a better deal than workers in another part. We are supposed to belong to the same company and we are all skilled men who drive forklifts or operate computers, but we get treated differently.

"It is a friendly protest and we are confident of getting this sorted out."

A spokesman for Arvin Replacement Products UK said: "Following lengthy negotiations, the company and its Blackpool warehouse employees have failed to reach agreement on terms and conditions across a number of issues. All other company sites are unaffected."