TWO one-day strikes by bus drivers in the Winchester area have been called off, according to managers at operators Stagecoach.

The RMT union had called strikes for between 6am tomorrow and 6am on Sunday and for the same times on August 11-12, next weekend.

Stagecoach South managing director Andrew Dyer said the action had been dropped following discussions with local union representatives.

Mr Dyer said yesterday: “I have been given assurances that our revised pay offer has been accepted following the talks and that we will be able to run our network of services based from Winchester as usual with the support of our 96-driver team.”

The RMT was unavailable for comment.

It is thought the dispute centred on a below-inflation pay offer of 1.5 per cent for both 2012 and 2013.