STAFF at troubled Chandler's Ford electronics firm APW have voted to hold a ballot on strike action.

About 120 union members voted by a margin of three to one to hold an official ballot on industrial action after negotiations with bosses on a new pension scheme broke down.

Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union will now prepare a full postal ballot to be sent out to members in the coming weeks.

It is just the latest blow to the morale of the workforce at APW, which has rarely been out of the headlines since the company wound up its final salary pension scheme in November last year.

A £55m black hole at the heart of the scheme meant about 1,200 members saw their retirement income slashed by up to 80 per cent. The scandal has seen questions asked in the House of Commons and protests on the streets of the capital.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the US-based chief executive of APW David Gallitano has lost his job and been replaced.

One worker, who did not want to be named but had lost more than £20,000 to the pension black hole, said management had begged them to "hold off" on strike action but staff feared the site might close.

"They called a meeting and our production manager said, 'if you vote for industrial action hold off until the summer, until we are up and running properly'.

"People are very bitter about the company when they are always being kicked in the teeth.

"People are looking around and saying there is not much work at the moment and they are asking will it close now or in the summer? That is what they are talking about on the shop floor.

"The Americans might just decide to cut and run," he added.

No one from APW was available to comment.