TEACHERS are threatening strike action in Hampshire this summer following one of the biggest shake-ups to the school year.

The move came last night after Hampshire County Council decided it would move all of its schools to a six-term year.

The decision means huge changes for parents and school staff. Now a leading teaching union is to ballot its 4,000 members across the county on strike action.

Southampton City Council has already agreed to a six-term year in principle and looks set to follow Hampshire's lead. Southampton education boss Councillor Calvin Horner will make a final decision on June 7.

The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers claim the views of 81 per cent of schools who voted against any change were ignored in Hampshire County Council's consultation.

Southampton teacher and regional union leader Ron Clooney said: "We are not opposed to the six-term year in principle. What we are concerned with is the fact that we undertook the consultation process in good faith and so did parents, governors and head teachers. This has simply been ignored because of the whims of a small minority of councillors."

A meeting of union members in Hampshire last night unan-imously agreed to hold a ballot to find out if members wish to take industrial action.

The county council's final recommendation for a six-term year starting in September next year was drawn up after the official consultation period was over.

Yesterday, Cllr Don Allen admitted mistakes had been made but insisted teaching associations had been consulted over the final proposal.

"Clearly there have been mistakes made in getting to this position and we will certainly learn from this experience," he said.

He said holiday dates coincided with neighbouring authorities and would mean a pattern of more equal length terms because of a fixed two-week April break.

He said: "The summer holiday remains almost six weeks long and is very comparable with that which has been in place for each of the past five years."

Regional spokesman for the National Union of Teachers Peter Sopowski said his members were not considering strike action.

"I don't think our members are going to die in a ditch over a matter of a couple of days. But Cllr Allen has shown a callous disregard for the negotiating structures in place."

The NASUWT's threat comes despite some head teachers saying the proposals don't go far enough.

Phil Munday, head teacher of Crestwood Community School in Eastleigh, said he would have liked more radical proposals.

"There are many benefits that having a fixed Easter break can bring. It would have been good to have an extended break in October to break up the autumn term."

Nationwide 13 other local education authorities, including the Isle of Wight, are set to introduce a six-term year for the first time this September.