UNIVERSITY lecturers across Hampshire are staging a two-day strike this week in a row over pay.

Staff will walk out on Wednesday and Thursday and will later refuse to work overtime or cover for colleagues, according to the University and College Union (UCU).

Southampton, Southampton Solent and Winchester universities are among those affected by the national industrial action.

The two-day strike comes after a 1.1 per cent pay rise offered by the Univerisites and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA), which the union branded "derisory" and said amounted to a real-terms pay cut.

There will be picket lines at Southampton's Avenue and Highfield campuses, the East Park Terrace entrance to Solent University and Winchester's Sparkford Road and West Downs campuses

Members will work to contract from Wednesday, meaning they will refuse to work overtime, set additional work, or undertake any voluntary duties like covering timetabled classes for absent colleagues.

If no agreement is reached in the coming weeks, members have agreed  further strike action in June and July. The UCU is also beginning preparations for a boycott of the setting and marking of students’ work, to begin in the autumn if an acceptable offer has still not been made.

A union statement said: "Since 2009 salaries of staff in HE have reduced in value by 14.5 per cent against inflation, yet there is a surplus of £1.8 billion across UK higher education. To make matters worse, those in charge of universities have awarded themselves pay rises three and four times higher than their colleagues."

A UCEA spokesman said: “Planning for any form of industrial action is disappointing for Higher Education (HE) institutions with one trade union on a path to try and cause disruption. The vast majority of staff in HE institutions understand the reality of the current environment and do not support action that could harm both their institutions and their students."

The strike could be averted if the parties reach a settlement by Wednesday.