STRIKING bus drivers will man the picket line for a third day of action on Friday if bosses do not offer a better pay rise.

The bad news for passengers comes after about 400 drivers across Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth congregated outside First bus depots in Fareham and Hilsea on Friday bringing services to a near standstill.

Around 20,000 passengers who use the buses everyday were left in limbo during the 24-hour walkout.

Four managers and a ticket inspector from Fareham's Hoeford depot broke the strike to drive buses along some of the main routes.

And two managers from Weymouth in Dorset were also drafted in to help man the limited service.

But not one of the 220 drivers at the Hoeford depot in Gosport Road worked.

"We have had 100 per cent support," said John Biddle, branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.

"Motorists have also been beeping their horns and we think that most people are behind us."

He condemned the decision by First to run some of the main commercial routes but not cover the school runs.

The union is still standing by its original demand of increasing the flat rate paid to drivers to £7.25 across the board with bonus payments for Sunday and bank holiday shifts. The lowest paid drivers currently earn £5.84 an hour.

The union rejected First's latest offer of 26 pence extra on the hourly flat rate and 25 pence extra an hour on Sundays.

"The offer was made on the condition we cancelled the strike action and recommended it to drivers. We did not think it was good enough," said Mr Biddle.

Commercial director at First Marc Reddy said: "We held talks on Thursday and improved our offer again to a package of around 4.5 per cent.

"Unfortunately we were unable to achieve the trade union's aspirations.

"We are happy to meet with the union for further talks. We have put on a reduced level of service over certain routes and customers have been very appreciative.

"We apologise for the inconvenience."