A MEETING is set to take place on Thursday to discuss a planned 48-hour strike by hundreds of First West Yorkshire bus drivers in Bradford.

A Unite official confirmed a meeting had been called with the Advisory Conciliation And Arbitration Service (ACAS) in Leeds to try to settle the dispute, which is expected to cause chaos for thousands of commuters next Monday and Tuesday.

The decision to strike by 380 staff based at the First Bradford depot in Bowling Back Lane has primarily been caused by the transfer of part of the 576 bus service from Bradford to Halifax, which the union said has cost eight jobs.

First has dismissed all of the union's claims and condemned the decision to strike, stating it was willing to have further talks to avoid the "massive disruption."

Senior communications officer at Unite, Shaun Noble, said: "I can confirm we are going to ACAS for talks, and we will give an update on the situation after that.

"We are not going to enter the realms of speculation as to what the outcome might be."

The union said the strike is due to start at 1.30am on Monday.