Nearly 650 Lindsey oil refinery workers have been sacked for taking unofficial strike action, the plant's owner Total has said.

The dismissals followed an escalation of wildcat strikes over jobs when workers from power stations at Drax and Eggborough in Yorkshire, Ratcliffe and West Burton in Nottinghamshire, Fiddlers Ferry in Cheshire, Aberthaw in South Wales, as well as contractors at a BP refinery near Hull also took unofficial industrial action.

Meanwhile, hopes of a breakthrough have collapsed as expected talks have failed to go ahead, conciliation services Acas has said.

They said in a statement: "We were invited by Total management for potential talks between the parties.

"After discussions between Total management and their contractors, they decided not to go ahead with the talks. We remain in touch with the parties."

Union sources said their officials waited for four hours before being told Total "no longer felt the need" to have a meeting.

A statement by Total said contractors who wanted to return to work on the construction project had until June 22 to reapply for positions.

The dispute began a week ago at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire when a contractor laid off 51 workers while another employer on the site was hiring staff.

Around 1,200 contract workers at the terminal have been taking unofficial action all week as efforts were made to convene talks.

In a statement, Total said striking workers were taking part in an "unofficial, illegal walk-out" that was "repudiated" by both Unite and the GMB unions.

A spokesman for the union said: "We are extremely concerned about the ramifications of the employer's actions."

The 650 sacked workers had been working on a construction project at the refinery.

The oil and gas giant said it was "frustrated and disappointed" by the failure of staff to return to work for negotiations.

The project will remain closed until next week.

Earlier this year, the Lindsey oil refinery was hit by unofficial action in a row over the recruitment of non-UK workers.

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