Staff at Ford’s production sites in Dagenham, Bridgend, Halewood and Southampton are staging a 24-hour strike today in dispute over pay and pensions.

Unite, the largest union in the UK, said the strike did not involve production workers, but a group who are “furious” over plans to end a final salary pension scheme to new employees that join the business and plans to lower pay rates next year.

Ford told the BBC “the vast majority of the company’s employees are not involved in the disagreement” and remains “willing and available to continue discussions”.

Unite said 67% of the 1,200 employers it represents at Ford voted in favour of industrial action and while production workers were not involved in the action, the strike is still expected to affect production.