STRIKE action at the region's colleges has been suspended after union members were advised to accept a new pay offer.

Thousands of students would have been affected by the two one-day strikes which were due to take place on October 3 and 4.

But yesterday, lecturers' union Natfhe recommended that members accept an improved pay offer from the Association of Colleges (AOC).

About 42,000 Natfhe members will be balloted on whether to accept the four per cent deal, 0.3 per cent higher than the one rejected in votes earlier this month.

Lecturers at Darlington College of Technology were among those who took part in a one-day strike in May over the gap between their salaries and those of teachers.

Natfhe members had refused to suspend action unless there was a long-term plan to close the gap, plus an "up-front" pay boost.

Iain Owens, Northern regional official for Natfhe, said the latest offer was not a great deal, but it was a start.

"We will see what the members think about it now," he said.

The suspension came after the AOC upped its offer to the level demanded by Natfhe using £5m granted by the Government earlier in the year.

An AOC spokeswoman said: "AOC policy has always been to raise the pay of everybody working in colleges - not just lecturers - to reasonable levels."