WORKERS at two Hampshire sites today decided to continued their wildcat strikes over the use of foreign labour.

Hundreds gathered at Fawley Refinery and decided to down tools as part of a nationwide protest.

The mass meeting included laggers, scaffolders and painters from the giant petrol chemical plant and workers building a £350 million power station in Marchwood.

Initial indications are that strikers will return tomorrow morning.

One worker Graham Thompson said: "This site has decded to return to work tomorrow and we will see how it goes on from there.

"I think the stewards will be meeting tomorrow."

The strikes have provoked ciriticism from business secretary Peter Mandelson who suggested xenophobia might be the cause of the problem.

In an interview Lord Mandelson also claimed that British workers, who had been employed under a previous contract, had not been up to the job as the company never fulfilled the contract.

About 160 contract workers initially went on strike at Marchwood Power Station on Friday and were joined by up to 100 workers from Fawley yesterday.

Union officials claimed that 80 percent at the Fawley complex joined the stoppage.

Marchwood Power directly employs about 50 people but currently almost 800 construction workers are employed on the site through Siemens.

The series of strikes broke out after energy giant Total's decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on a new £200 million plant at the giant Lindsey Oil Refinery at North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire.