STRIKERS at a Tyneside offshore yard are due to return to work on Monday after action which lasted nearly two weeks.

The strike, at Amec, Walls-end, started after workers said they were forced to accept pay cuts of up to 25 per cent.

Management and unions have struck a deal, but both sides were unwilling to give details, although it is understood it will put workers' pay close to the original levels.

The strike, which began on November 29, halted work on a multi-million pound North Sea oil rig project. Amec also warned that it could jeopardise a much bigger order.

Two days after the strike began, meetings between managers and the GMB union, at company headquarters, in Aberdeen, failed to find a solution.

But on Thursday, the two sides met at the Tyneside yard.

GMB Organiser Bill Coates said: "It's time to pour oil on troubled waters."

An Amec spokesman said both sides had agreed to work more closely, "to avoid action that damages the chances of winning future orders and does neither side any good".