NEARLY 2,000 ambulance workers and paramedics serving Greater Manchester and Merseyside are being balloted for strike action over pay.

The North West Ambulance Service staff are furious about the government imposing a 4 per cent pay award, which represents a real-terms cut, their union GMB said yesterday.

GMB has also announced that thousands more workers at ambulance services in other areas, including Yorkshire, the North East, the West Midlands and the East Midlands, are to vote on whether to go on strike.