A TWO-DAY walk-out over pay by bus workers in the New Forest has been called off.

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) accepted a revised pay offer from the Wilts and Dorset bus company following face to face talks.

About 120 drivers, engineers and clerical staff at depots in Lymington and Ringwood and others from Bournemouth, Salisbury, Poole, Swanage and Blandford were due to walkout on Monday and Tuesday.

The pay dispute hit thousands of bus passengers with a 24-hour strike on May 18.

Wilts and Dorset runs routes all over the Forest, linking villages to Southampton, Bournemouth and Salisbury.

Union representatives met with Wilts and Dorset bosses in Salisbury to thrash out a deal, which they claim was an improvement on an unsatisfactory "inflation only" offer that would also have undermined working conditions.

RMT regional organiser Phil Bialyk accepted a proposed 2.6 per cent pay increase over the next three months and a 3.7 per cent offer for a further nine months as well as the introduction of part-time work, lieu days and holiday rotas. Wilts and Dorset's managing director Alex Carter said the union's 700 members would be balloted on the proposal either by post or through a workplace ballot, which could take up to a week.

"If the offer was rejected by the membership then that would result in further investigations but we are hoping that it will be accepted," he said.

He had insisted before the meeting that there was little room for manoeuvre over pay as any increase in drivers' £8 an hour wage would have to be passed on to passengers through fare increases.

Mr Carter, who has been directly involved in the pay negotiations for the past four months, had described the RMT's threats of strike action as inconsiderate. They would have hit pupils returning to school from half-term breaks, leaving Hampshire County Council little room to make alternative arrangements for transport during examination time.

The council wrote on Thursday to parents likely to be affected reminding them of the potential strike action and urging them to make alternative travel arrangements for their children where possible, but there has not been time to rescind the warning.

Schools such as Priestlands Secondary School at Lymington and The Burgate School at Fordingbridge would have been particularly hard hit.