YORK Central MP Rachael Maskell has met striking British Gas workers in the city and leant them her support.

The Labour MP said British Gas was threatening its engineers with a fire and re-hire pay cut and she called on it to 'stop tarnishing the name of a once great British company.'

She claimed: "It is a scandal that British Gas workers are being threatened with a fire and rehire policy, designed to give the engineers lower pay and cut corners on safety whilst those at the top continue to get richly rewarded.

“In the middle of a pandemic, the families of British Gas engineers are rightly concerned for their futures through no fault of their own, and they are right to want to defend their jobs and livelihoods.I’ll do all I can to highlight the issue, including raising this in Parliament at the next opportunity.”

Neil Derrick, of the GMB union, said British Gas must listen to its 'loyal and skilled workers.'

British Gas owner Centrica has previously claimed the GMB leadership seemed intent on causing disruption to customers, the union's mandate for strike action was weak and it was fighting against modernisation and changes which would help protect well paid jobs in the long term.

It claimed more than 83 per cent of the workforce had already accepted its new terms, in which base pay and pensions were protected, and it had strong contingency plans in place to ensure it was still there for customers who really needed it.