Hundreds of public sector workers were today due to march through the streets to campaign for higher wages to cope with house prices in Oxfordshire.

Librarians, education officers, hospital ancillary workers, police support staff and other members of the public sector workers' union Unison were expected to march from Bonn Square, Oxford, to the nearby Bodleian Library, carrying banners and placards.

Unison members are calling for an Oxfordshire "weighting" - like their colleagues in London - so they are paid extra to compensate them for the higher house prices in the county compared to other areas.

Police officers are paid an extra £2,000 a year and nurses get £500 a year more for living in the county, but other hospital workers and police support staff do not.

Martin Gregory, secretary of the Oxford city branch of Unison, said public services in the county were suffering because of problems in recruiting and keeping staff. Gaps in staffing put pressure on employees in the understaffed areas, he added, and said public service workers in the county are worse off than their colleagues on the same national pay scales in other parts of the country where the cost of living is cheaper.

Mr Gregory said: "People are understandably reluctant to come to Oxfordshire to work in public services.

"While in London and other parts of the south east allowances for the cost of living are the norm, in Oxfordshire they are not widespread in the public sector.

"The Government must do something urgently to help all of Oxfordshire's public services get properly staffed up.

"It is grossly unfair and insulting to underpaid and hard-working staff that the Government has only acted for certain health professionals and the police. Our members want to live not just exist."