UNION members have rejected the latest pay offer by Metro bosses, paving the way for industrial action, it emerged at the weekend.

Members of the train drivers' union RMT and Amicus voted against the 3.8 per cent pay rise offer from Metro operator Nexus.

Two other unions, the TGWU and Aslef, had already turned down the deal, which included a possible offer to cut the working week.

At the weekend, Nexus indicated it was ready to meet the unions to hear the result of ballots, planned for early this week.

Amicus regional director Dave Harrison said: "We will be consulting other unions and, if the company is unwilling to meet us further, we are likely to conduct a further industrial action ballot. We can't rule out strike action.

"We would far rather meet the company and solve this dispute peaceably. There is not a lot of difference between us."

A Nexus spokesman said the company agreed to hold meetings with unions before strike ballots took place. He said this had not happened.

Meanwhile, striking train drivers have been barred from working on rest days, a practice train company Arriva said conductors were using to make up for pay lost on strike days.

The RMT union denies its conductors were swapping rest days, and said the company's stance would only aggravate the situation.