Train chaos hits holiday hotspots hard

THE RMT yesterday dashed the hopes of those who like to be beside the seaside as a third day of strikes paralysed services to Britain’s top coastal resorts.

Services to Bournemouth, Blackpool, Margate, Llandudno and Skegness were axed and trains were cancelled in Cornwall. Just a fifth of services ran in England, Wales and Scotland.

The strike also caused headaches for thousands of people travelling to a Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park and to see Ed Sheeran’s at Wembley, as well as those attending Armed Forces Day events and the Test in Leeds.

The fresh disruption came amid claims that the strikes last Tuesday and Thursday had been less effective than the RMT hoped because many commuters can now work from home. The union is demanding pay rises of around seven per cent and is opposing modernisation plans, but in a tweet Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there was a need to ‘banish outdated’ working practices.

As RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch played down speculation of an imminent deal, the Treasury warned cuts would be needed if public sector workers are offered deals of more than three per cent.

The Government is braced for a summer of discontent with more than 1,200 Heathrow staff set to strike next month, bringing chaos to families heading off on holiday.

The NEU teaching union is set to ballot members over potential strikes, and pupils could face delays getting their GCSE and A-level results because staff at the AQA exam board are being balloted by their union, Unison.

A planned four-week rolling strike over pay by barristers, starting tomorrow, could disrupt 8,000 court cases.