COUNTY council workers still stranded abroad because of the volcanic ash crisis are no longer getting paid.

Only staff who made it back to work by Wednesday, April 21, will be paid for days they were absent.

Any of the council’s 40,000 full or part-time employees who are still stuck on holiday will have to use annual leave, unpaid leave or make arrangements with their line manager to make up the time.

The council could not confirm how many employees were stranded in the air traffic chaos, which left more than 200,000 people stuck abroad.

Hampshire County Council leader Ken Thornber said: “This is an unprecedented event and when looking at how best to deal with the unplanned absences of staff affected we have tried to be fair and sympathetic to their situation while balancing this with the need to be fair to the council taxpayer.

“We have agreed to pay normal contractual pay to staff affected for the period when UK airspace was closed (April 15 to 21 inclusive) but any absences beyond this period will need to be taken as annual leave, unpaid leave or the time made up.”

The council said its 10,000 teachers were not included as their pay is at the discretion of school heads, who follow advice from the Local Government Employers organisation (LGE).

It urges head teachers to avoid docking pay when teachers are unable to make it to school for reasons out of their control, suggesting instead making up the time with after-school classes for pupils.

A spokesman for Southampton City Council said it was also looking at LGE advice for their affected employees.

The city’s two universities said they would look at each individual case.

The University of Southampton said it was reviewing its policy for anyone who has been unable to make it back to work but would not expect staff to use holidays or go unpaid for any period absence “if reasonable efforts have been made to return home by other means”.

A Solent University spokeswoman said: “The number of university employees affected has been relatively small and the university has been able to sensibly manage each individual case and make reasonable adjustments without the need for any special policy.”

One of Southampton’s biggest employers, Skandia, which employs around 2,000 people, said it would not dock any staff pay for the time they missed.

A spokesman said: “Because the ash cloud is something beyond everyone’s control, we aren’t asking our employees to make up any additional time they have had off or take it as extra holiday.”