TEACHERS in Middlesbrough are to begin taking action over staff shortages as soon as their employers have been informed.

More than 90 per cent of members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) have voted for the cover-to-contract action.

It means they will refuse to cover for vacancies or absences of longer than three days.

Terry Buckler, NUT regional secretary, said: "The support for the action continues as members see what they need to do to show parents the extent of the staffing crisis in our schools.

"It is the support from teachers for the action which causes the Government and the employers to huff and puff, but we will continue doing what is necessary to illustrate the scale of the problem."