UNIONS representing probation officers have withdrawn planned strikes after forcing the prison service to reopen a three-year pay award amid the jail overcrowding crisis.

The unions submitted a claim for more back pay in 2023, which HM Prison and Probation Service rejected in April this year.

But after consultative ballots in June showed strong support for industrial action and following the change of government, the prison service reopened talks and made an offer to the unions last week.