Council workers could be offered as much as £2,000 as part of a settlement to end an almost decade-long pay dispute.

Around 800 city council workers had been affected by an equal pay issue relating to bank holiday pay for refuse and recycling workers dating back to 2013.

Trade union Unison was not included in the negotiations and has continued to raise the issue with the council over concerns that other low-paid workers, including in the care sector, had been excluded from the deal.

Following successful negotiations last summer, a final offer was reached, with the special bank holiday payment backdated for six years and an agreement to pay everyone the same rate of the payment until a new system can be negotiated.

Under the deal, some of the lowest-paid workers at Brighton and Hove City Council will be offered amounts as much as £2,000 to end the dispute.

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The union’s joint branch secretary Corinna Edwards-Colledge described the resolution as a “fantastic win”.

She said: “We are delighted that hundreds of key workers, including care workers, security staff, seafront officers and venue workers will now be being compensated for an historic inequality in how Brighton and Hove City Council pays its bank holiday workers.

“This is another example of the power of the collective voice that trade unions represent and our branch’s prioritisation of fairness and accountability.”

The branch will now work with the council to ensure everyone has a chance to look at the offer and decide if they want to take it.

Unison will also work to ensure any future bank holiday payment rewards are the same for all workers, regardless of whether they work in care, security, refuse and recycling, events, or on the seafront.

A council spokesman said: “We have been working hard to address some historic pay issues.

“We’re pleased to have been able to resolve these in a way that benefits some of our most lowly-paid staff.”