300 fruit pickers return to work

S&A said the dispute arose over a misunderstanding

About 300 fruit pickers who blocked a road in Herefordshire in a dispute over pay have returned to work, according to their employers S&A Produce.

Police were called out after workers staged a sit-in on the old Leominster to Hereford road on Wednesday.

The staff, mostly from eastern Europe, said they were being paid £40 a week.

The Brierley-based company, which denies that claim, said the pickers all returned to work after a meeting with management on Thursday.

'Computer malfunction'

The striking staff said on Wednesday they had not been paid for some work and complained about their living conditions on the farm.

S&A said the group returned to their living quarters after 10 protesters spoke with management, and then agreed to go back to work on Thursday morning after a second meeting.

S&A's sole director Graham Neal said Wednesday's protest stemmed from a misunderstanding over pay slips.

Mr Neal said a computer malfunction after a change of software meant many of the workers' pay slips contained zeros in the money paid box.

He said the pickers had been warned this might happen, but that the message evidently had not got through to everyone.

Mr Neal has also denied that the staff were only receiving £40 a week and said they were all being paid at least the national minimum wage.