Striking civil servants to bring more T5 misery

Terminal 5 faces yet further turmoil with a 24-hour strike tomorrow by immigration and passport control officers.

The walkout will form part of the day of action by 100,000 civil servants and thousands of council workers and teachers in separate disputes over pay.

It added to fears of a repetition of the huge queues and passenger disruption which ruined the opening of BA's new £4.3 billion terminal last month.

Both BA and airport owners BAA were preparing for more long queues as passengers struggled to get through the security checks.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said contingency plans had been prepared to prevent further disruption at T5, used by 50,000 passengers a day. He said: "Contingency plans are in place to mitigate the effect of a strike."

Union leaders warned of more walkouts across the Civil Service unless the Government changes its policy of pegging pay increases to two per cent a year over the next three years.

The Public and Commercial Services union will vote at its annual conference next month to hold a Civil Servicewide ballot for strikes over pay, which could lead to national walkouts over the summer. General secretary Mark Serwotka said the scale of industrial action tomorrow by civil servants, added to action by teachers and lecturers in separate rows over pay, was huge.

Observers said it was the biggest challenge to the Government on public sector pay since Labour came to power in 1997. The strikes will start with Coastguard workers tonight at 7pm and will continue throughout tomorrow.