Cleaning staff on the county's trains are to walk out on a one-day strike later this month as part of a dispute over pay.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union says hundreds of cleaners will take part in the day of action on Wednesday, February 24.

All are employed by the company Churchill which has a cleaning contract to service trains and stations for Southeastern, Southern, HS1 and Eurostar. In addition, they also work across Great Northern and Thameslink services.

But despite the division of Churchill employing the cleaners making a profit of more than £11million last year, staff are only paid the minimum wage.

They have been left fuming after having to undertake extra tasks during the pandemic to keep up with strict hygiene requirements.

RMT chiefs say the profits could have been gone towards upping the pay for the cleaning staff who have long been campaigning for better rates of pay.

A rally will be held outside Parliament on the day of the action to raise awareness.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This will be the biggest yet industrial action by cleaners on the rail network and it’s part of our union’s message to the government and employers that the days where they could get away with rank exploitation of this essential workforce are over.

“Our members’ already scandalously low pay is being eaten away and they are justifiably not putting up with it any longer.

“Churchill can afford to pay, so they need to get back to the table with a proper offer, and the government need to tackle the cost of living crisis by ending their callous pay freeze on the railways”.