Dozens of sacked contractors from Lindsey Refinery in north Lincolnshire have burnt their letters of dismissal in a defiant show of strength.

Scores of protesters queued to throw the letters into a blazing dustbin to cheers from a crowd of around 300 colleagues.

Just under 600 contract staff working on a major construction project at the refinery were sacked last week by firms working for the French oil company Total, which runs the refinery.

The employers took the action in response to more than a week of wildcat strikes over a dispute about jobs at the site.

The sacked men were told they have until 5pm today to reapply for their posts.

Total said it was "encouraged" by the amount of feedback it had had from the workers involved.

But a succession of speakers at a mass meeting of the demonstrators said they did not believe the company and said the men were standing firm.

Phil Whitehurst, of the GMB union, told the crowd: "Let them show us how many want to go back in there crawling on their bellies for their jobs. We go out together, we go back together."

Contract workers at a number of sites, including a gas terminal at Milford Haven in West Wales, took sympathy strike action.

Activists said they expected contract staff to continue supporting the Lindsey workers throughout the next few days.

More than 300 contract workers at the Aberthaw power station in South Wales took unofficial action earlier along with around 60 staff at a site in Staythorpe in Nottinghamshire, sources said.

A number of contractors did not turn up for work at a power station in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Hundreds of workers also downed tools at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria. Up to 900 sub-contractors walked out after an unofficial mass meeting at the facility earlier.

None of them are Sellafield staff, but work on various construction projects at the site. The walk-out will last until Wednesday morning.

A spokeswoman for Sellafield said the running of the plant was not affected.

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