SECURITY guards at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum are preparing to vote on strike action for the first time this week.

Ballots will be open from November 22 to December  6, their union UVW has announced, with staff fighting for £16 an hour and full sick pay.

The guards have received just a 1.2 per cent pay rise between 2019 and 2021, while their contractor Wilson James saw its profits double to over £7.6 million annually over the same period.