YORK council boss David Atkinson today apologised for the inconvenience caused by his striking staff - and said he feared the action would not be the last.

The chief executive of City of York Council said he expected the authority - like others across the country - would be hit by at least one more such strike.

After that he expected both the unions and the employers to take stock, with the unions looking at the amount of support and commitment to the strike shown by their members.

Mr Atkinson said: "I do feel the need to apologise to all the members of the public that have been inconvenienced - in some cases seriously inconvenienced - by the strike. We have done all we can to minimise the inconvenience. We have negotiated with UNISON so that the most vulnerable people are not affected."

He said the strike had been "reasonably supported", estimating that more than 2,000 workers had taken part in the action. The effect had been "patchy", but the authority had remained able to deal with any emergencies that arose by agreement with the unions. The impact had been as expected, apart from the closure of a couple more car parks than was anticipated.

He said his council had supported the three per cent pay offer. This was what it had budgeted for and it could not afford more.

He ruled out any immediate prospect of York breaking out of the national pay negotiations and negotiating a separate pay deal with its own staff.

Updated: 15:47 Wednesday, July 17, 2002