TEACHING assistants say they will ballot for strike action if a council presses ahead with changes to their contracts.

The warning came as hundreds of teaching assistants took part in a protest outside Durham County Council offices on Friday morning.

The demonstration is in response to the council's plans to change their contracts so they are only paid during term time.

Unison says the plan would result in a pay cut of up to 23 per cent for the 2,700 staff employed as teaching assistants across the county.

Durham County Council is yet to announce a final decision, but the proposals have been vehemently opposed by staff since original discussions began last November.

The union said the aim of the protest was to make members' voices heard ahead of the next council meeting scheduled for Friday, April 14.

Helen Metcalf, regional organiser for Unison, estimated that 300 people took part in the protest, with teaching assistants from across the county descending on County Hall for the event.

She added: "People were pleased to be there, taking part in a peaceful and positive demonstration, and to see so much support, particularly from passing motorists.

"For people to come out in those kind of numbers on a day off sends out a very strong message."

Ms Metcalf added: "If we are not listened to we will then move to a ballot for strike action and I imagine it will also have good support.

"This will have an impact on schools as people will have to leave the profession."

Mark Wilkes, Liberal Democrat Durham county councillor, has spoken out against the changes to teaching assistants' contracts and has published extracts from emails they have sent him during the dispute on his website.

One said: "I feel the council have selected a large group of mainly females as a route to making an easy monetary saving.

"I feel incredibly worried about this proposal and how it will affect me, my family, my colleagues and my school."

Cllr Jane Brown, Cabinet member for corporate services at Durham County Council, said: “There are currently 2,700 teaching assistants working in schools across the county, most of whom are paid for more hours than they actually work and receive more paid leave than the other 17,000 council employees.

“This situation stems from an historic local arrangement and is something we are seeking to address on the basis of its inherent unfairness and inequality, which applies both within the working group of teaching assistants, with other school employees and across the rest of the council’s workforce."