NEXT week’s strike at the Cheltenham Festival will go ahead after pay talks broke down yesterday.

Unite officer Davy McMurray said the union rejected the offer from bookmakers SP Graham of a 4 per cent increase which would have left workers 9p above the minimum wage.

McMurray called on SP Graham to increase their offer and start paying their workers the living wage, with workers ready to go on strike throughout the duration of the festival, March 15-18.

He said: “Management have offered workers a pay increase of 4 per cent and 6 per cent this year. Ordinarily that would be a significant pay improvement but for the workers of SP Graham Ltd that leaves them only nine pence an hour above the lowest legally permissible rate of pay from April of this year.

“This pay offer does nothing to address the poverty pay on which our members are expected to live. Already the initial response from our members suggests they will reject it.

“Although they don’t publish their annual profits due to their ‘small company’ status, we know that SP Graham Ltd is a highly profitable company with a significant turnover. They can well afford to pay their workers a living wage.

“As it stands strike action voted unanimously by our members during Cheltenham Festival dates remains unchanged.

“Even at this late stage we are asking management to share some of the company’s success, and become a fully accredited living wage employer.”

The minimum wage is £6.70 for people older than 21 and £5.30 for 18-20-year-olds.

The Tories’ contrite “national living wage” comes in in April, at £7.20 an hour for over 25s.

But that isn’t enough to live on with the living wage foundation setting a rate of £8.25 an hour outside of London and £9.40 in the capital.