A demonstratiopn is being held in Oxford to urge the Government to pay weighting allowances to counter the high cost of living in the south.

The Oxfordshire Weighting Allowance Campaign (Owac) is staging the protest in Bonn Square on May 9, at 12.30pm.

An adjournment debate in Parliament has been led by MPs for Newbury and Reading West on the case of weighting payments for BBC staff in the South East.

Owac is demanding that Oxfordshire MPs take a similar stand in Parliament for workers in Oxfordshire.

The demand for pay allowances has been fuelled by the rise in housing costs in the county, which have exceeded increases in some parts of the capital.

Campaign co-ordinator Martin Gregory said: "Many workers in Oxfordshire are struggling to cover the essential elements of a standard of living.

"They desperately need a weighting allowance to take account of working in a high cost area.

"Oxfordshire house prices are higher than in the majority of outer London boroughs."

Owac acknowledges that some workers in the county do get weighting payments, including nurses, Thames Valley Police officers and Crown Prosecution staff.

It is calling for the same payments to be made for low-paid NHS workers, and the vast majority of public sector workers who do not get any supplement for the higher cost of living. Last year, members of the public service union Unison staged a one-day strike pending a pay deal.

A seven per cent pay rise over two years avoided a further strike in August and the likelihood of any industrial action this year.

Mr Gregory added: "The weighting allowance campaign itself could lead to industrial action, but I think that is some way down the line."