JobCentre workers are threatening to strike in a row over staff getting pay bonuses in Brighton but not in Hove.

We revealed on Tuesday how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) introduced extra allowances of between £1,500 and £5,000 a year for Brighton employees only.

Staff in Hove who missed out are now considering quitting, and the Public and Commercial Services Union could ballot for industrial action.

The extra allowances came in response to complaints of high staff turnover and poor performance at the DWP's Brighton offices.

Employees had complained about the high cost of living in the area.

However, workers at the JobCentre in Kingsway in Hove cannot understand why they have been left out, despite being based just three miles away in the same city.

Strikes would involve 30 staff at the Hove JobCentre and 70 workers at the social security office in Boundary Road, Hove.

The DWP's new "pay zone" covers the JobCentres in the Old Steine, Upper North Street and West Street, and the social security office in Edward Street, all in Brighton.

One worker at the Hove JobCentre said: "We're all up in arms about this. We're working just as hard but our colleagues down the road are earning this much more.

"I earn just over £12,000 a year. Another £1,500 would make a hell of a lot of difference.

"We're not all going to start asking for transfers to Brighton, but there are a few members of staff who are now looking to move out of this area all together.

"What makes it worse is a few silly people in the Brighton office rubbing our noses in it."

Martin Smith, regional branch secretary of the PCS, said: "That is unfortunate, and something we don't want to see. We're all fellow workers.

"The local management here is disgusted as we are about the anomaly, which is just bizarre.

"If we can't solve this through negotiations, there will be a ballot later this year."

He added that campaigning would start to include other Sussex towns such as Lewes and Haywards Heath in an extended pay zone.

Hove MP Ivor Caplin has discussed the anomaly with Andrew Smith, secretary of state for work and pensions, and is waiting for a DWP response.

The DWP has said there were no immediate plans to extend the Brighton pay zone, but officials would consider reviewing the pay difference.