Another strike is planned at Sellafield in a dispute between a union and a contractor.

Staff employed by civil engineering company DSD Construction, based in Carlisle, voted for strike action after the company sacked a Unite shop steward - 26 days after he was elected to the post.

DSD Construction is currently undertaking work to improve security at the nuclear reprocessing site.

Unite said the strike was a direct result of DSD Construction sacking James Bainbridge, Unite's newly-elected shop steward.

A Unite spokesman said that within a day of being elected to the post Mr Bainbridge had been told to relocate to the Carlisle depot, 40 miles away from the rest of the workforce.

After Unite’s intervention Mr Bainbridge was reinstated to the Sellafield site and following a meeting of members he submitted a written grievance on their behalf to management.

Concerns included working in the rain, issues over personal protective equipment and weekend working.

The spokesman said Mr Bainbridge was relocated and meetings to resolve the situation were cancelled.

He added Mr Bainbridge was sacked at a meeting on November 22 without a full disciplinary process.

Three separate periods of strike action have been announced. The first walk-out is due to take place from 12am on Tuesday, January 23 to 7am on Wednesday, January 24.

Further strikes are planned on Thursday, February 1 from 12am to 7am on Friday, February 2 and from 12am on Wednesday, February 7 to 7am on Thursday, February 8.

Members will also refuse to do overtime from 12am on Thursday, January 23.

Unite warned that picket lines would be in place and other workers on the site could be reluctant to cross them.

Ryan Armstrong, Unite regional officer, said: "Unite will not allow a shop steward to be treated in this way simply for undertaking his normal trade union role.

"This strike action, which is entirely of DSD’s making, is set to cause widespread disruption throughout the entire Sellafield complex.

"If DSD wants to avoid these strikes and the disruption it will cause, then the company needs to immediately reinstate our shop steward and address the genuine concerns of our members."

A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd said: "This dispute does not involve Sellafield Ltd. It is a dispute between DSD Construction and their employees, and is unrelated to recent industrial action by Sellafield Ltd employees.

"As always, we will work with other agencies to try to minimise disruption for the public."

Nobody from DSD was available to comment.

The announcement comes soon after firefighters in the GMB union announced they would strike from 6am to 6pm on January 11 and 22.

The firefighters have previously held three 12-hour strikes - and rejected a new pay offer last month.

GMB official Chris Jukes said the new offer was not enough to resolve the row.