AS MANY as 3,000 civil servants in Gwent could be set to strike amid a row with the UK Government over pay and pensions.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have voted to strike in a national ballot.

The move would affect civil servants working across Gwent, including at the Office for National Statistics, the Newport passport office and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The date of the strike is not yet set but it is thought that a day of action is likely to take place around the day of the 2013 budget.

The union's leadership will now discuss a programme of striikes and protests, with a decision expected on Wednesday.

PCS said that since the onset of the recession in 2008, the real value of wages in the public and private sectors had fallen by seven per cent.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Civil and public servants are working harder than ever to provide the services we all rely on but, instead of rewarding them, the government is cutting their pay, raiding their pensions and trying to rip up their basic working conditions."

Turnout for the ballot was 28 per cent.

A UK Government cabinet office spokesman said: "It is disappointing that yet again the PCS insist on pushing for futile action which benefits no-one, and damages the services they deliver to the public.

"The result from today's ballot shows that the PCS leadership couldn't even convince large swathes of its own membership of the benefits of walkouts."