Maintenance and safety engineers on the East Coast Mainline have voted overwhelming for strikes in a dispute over pay.

Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), employed by Network Rail, are involved in a row over back payments.

The union says Network Rail has been failing to honour annual incremental grade payments for up to 10 years to around 80 maintenance engineers. There was an 80pc vote in favour of industrial action.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'We're talking about a small, dedicated team of highly skilled graduates who have willingly complied with every safety training course regulation to which they are professionally bound.

'They don't want to walk off the job, they just want to be paid their due.

'The money owed to these staff year on year really stacks up - one of our members is owed a total of £60,000 dating back over 10 years.

'This ballot shows very clearly that their patience is at an end. Unless Network Rail now agree to enter immediate talks with TSSA reps to resolve this issue collectively, then Network Rail will force our members to take strike action on East Coast Mainline and services will sadly be affected.'

East Midlands train services between Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street use a section of the East Coast Mainline between Peterborough and Grantham.