THE threat of a strike at a car components factory has been lifted after workers voted against it by three to one.

Workers at Unipres, in Washington, Wearside, were balloted on strike action, which trade union Amicus said could have disrupted production at Nissan.

Graham Baines, company secretary at Unipres, said yesterday: "Amicus members voted overwhelmingly to reject the call for strike action at Unipres.

"There was, however, a small majority in favour of action short of a strike - ie, an overtime ban.

"Amicus has not informed us whether it intends to call upon its members to take industrial action or what form this action will take.

"Given Amicus members represent only a third of the total workforce, we would expect the disruption of an overtime ban on the business to be minimal.

"We will, of course, continue discussions with employee representatives and Amicus to try to resolve outstanding issues and avert such action together."

Unions were objecting to Unipres asking staff to work about six Saturdays a year.

A spokeswoman for Amicus said yesterday she did not know what the outcome of the strike ballot was and had no further comment to make.