Workers handling 999 emergency calls are set to walk out next Monday in a pay row.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union will down tools in the one day national strike action.

While police officers are legally barred from going on strike, civilian workers who help make up 14,000 backroom staff, can take industrial action.

Managers trying to 'persuade' workers not to strike

Front line officers may be taken off the beat to help cover at the Central Communications Complex which handles nearly 11,000 incidents a day.

According to insiders, managers are putting pressure on staff to 'break' the strike and stay at work.

The Metropolitan Police Authority did not respond to our enquiries as to whether cops would be drafted in to take calls from the public.

Overtime ban - Demands

The day after the strike an overtime ban will kick in from 11 November for the duration of the programme of action.

The union says it has gone for "maximum impact" as jobs have been cut in many areas and demand for services has risen, management have been relying on overtime to get work done.

The PCS union is demanding:

* Each member to receive a consolidated basic pay increase at least equal to the retail price index
* A level playing field between public sector workers by removing pay progression costs from budgets for increases
* Reduction in the number of separate pay negotiations;
* An end to pressure for regional pay
* Additional funding to remedy equal pay problems
* An end to links between pay and performance appraisal.