CO-OP delivery drivers voted overwhelmingly for strike action yesterday over plans to transfer 87 jobs to haulier Eddie Stobart Ltd.

Stobart has a history of attacking the pay and conditions of drivers transferred from supermarket chains.

The firm took on 184 Tesco drivers in Doncaster in 2012 and made the workforce redundant in early 2013, instead employing agency drivers on lower pay and worse conditions.

Drivers’ union Unite won settlements at an employment tribunal last year but some victims are still jobless.

“The ballot result is a strong mandate from our members to continue to fight hard to protect their pay and conditions,” said Unite national officer for retail distribution Adrian Jones.

“We will now be consulting with our members as to the next steps regarding industrial action.

Co-op drivers from depots in Andover, Avonmouth, Cambridgeshire and north-west England have already been transferred and now 87 drivers based in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, Derbyshire, Coventry, Inverness, Lanarkshire, Plymouth and Thurrock are to follow.

Unite balloted 700 drivers, who voted by 77 per cent for strike action.

Mr Jones said: “We call on the management to sit down and discuss the situation constructively under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas.”

He said Unite was asking the Co-op to look at shop stewards’ proposals for increased efficiency and lower costs.