STRIKE action is being called for civilian workers at military training ranges across the country over concerns about redundancies and safety.

Unite, the country's biggest union, is calling on its 325 members at Landmarc Support Services, which runs the ranges for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), to strike for 24 hours from midnight on Monday, November 3 in a dispute about proposed redundancies, safety issues and lack of consultation.

Among the ranges affected are Wathgill Camp, near Richmond, North Yorkshire; Otterburn, Northunberland; and Warcop training centre, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria.

Unite is warning that lives of the public could be put at risk due to heavy staff redundancies, with a loss of about 370 positions at military ranges across the UK, bringing the workforce down to about 1,000.

Unite regional officer Bob Middleton said: “During the past year there have been numerous incidents on the ranges which would have resulted in a fatality, if the professional wardens had not been present.

“The strikes are about the safety of the ranges and how Landmarc wants to drive down wages and increase the working hours.

“The new contract that Landmarc was awarded is based on drastic cutting to the bone in terms of staff numbers, pay, and terms and conditions. This contract needs to be reviewed as a matter of urgency by the MOD.

“It is our view that the ranges won’t be able to open for training and this could affect the army’s training plans.”

A spokesman for Landmarc said: “Our first concern is the safety of military users, range staff and the general public.

“While providing a safe place to train is the responsibility of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, we will work closely with them to ensure any potential action does not affect range safety.

“It is disappointing to hear that members of Unite have voted to take this action. We are intent on continuing to work closely with the unions to reach an agreed outcome.”

The strike follows new figures showing that the vast majority of serious injuries suffered by armed forces personnel occur during training exercises.

A MoD health and safety statistics report reveals that during the 2013 to 2014 year, 38 per cent of armed forces personnel and MoD civilian employees - 760 people - suffered major injuries in training exercises.

Military injuries lawyers at Irwin Mitchell, who represent the victims of injury and families of people who have died while serving in the armed forces, say that the figures are ‘disturbing’ and show there is long way to go to improve conditions for troops.

The MoD and DIO were unable to comment on whether the strike action would adversely impact on military training exercises.