CLASSROOM assistants could take industrial action in a wrangle over pay for their increasing responsibilities.

The Government wants assistants to have a greater role in the education of children and stand in for teachers who are ill.

But assistants in County Durham say their employer, Durham County Council, will not review pay scales to take account of the increase in their responsibilities.

The county has 1,200 classroom assistants, teaching assistants and nursery nurses whose pay scale offers a maximum salary of about £13,800.

In 2001, their union, Unison, submitted a claim for a new pay scale and career structure that would have added between £2,000 and £3,000 to the salaries of many staff.

But the union says the county council has pulled out of the talks.

Yesterday, a group of assistants from some of the county's schools lobbied councillors arriving for a meeting at County Hall, Durham City.

The council agreed to resume talks but said any pay increase would have to be funded by the Government.

Unison regional officer Howard Pink said: "They should have more central government funding but they can't hide behind that as a reason for not doing anything about it.

"It raises the question of where we go from here. I don't want to have to hold a ballot for industrial action and see disruption in schools.''

The council's education portfolio holder, Neil Foster, said the authority had a great deal of sympathy for the union's claim.

But as the assistants' increased workload resulted from Government initiatives, the money for increased pay should come from Whitehall.

If the council tried to fund higher pay, it would lead to cuts in hard-pressed school budgets.

He said the council had lobbied the Government for more money and could step up its efforts in league with other authorities.