THE leader of Southampton council is backing tougher strike laws claiming thousands of council staff and residents have been “held to ransom” by the say of 500 union members.

Speaking from a local government conference in Birmingham Cllr Royston Smith told the Echo he was supportive of calls for a majority turnout requirement in industrial action ballots.

And he said he would lobby for a change in the law after unions declined to put a revised offer from the council to their members. “Even an estate agent has to take an offer to a seller,” he said.

Four out of ten of the 2,500 union members balloted at the council for industrial action council cast votes.

Of those 495 (55 per cent) voted for strikes.

Unions insist the turnout in their ballots was higher than the local elections which put Cllr Smith in power, where little over three out of ten vote.

Dozens of council workers from Southampton will head to Birmingham today to demonstrate at the LGA conference.

Unite regional officer Ian Woodland said: “If Royston Smith won’t come to us then we will head to him.

“He may be running from his workforce but he certainly cannot hide from the fact that his attempts to hammer them into submission is going very wrong.”