Unions representing council workers in Bradford are demanding a six per cent pay hike this year in a rejection of the Government's offer of a three-year pay deal.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling last week announced plans for a staggered pay increase over three years, which unions said they did not trust the Government to deliver.

Yesterday, three of the largest public sector unions, UNISON, the GMB and the T&G, announced they would call for six per cent raise.

That would give more than one million local government workers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales a pay rise of six per cent or 50p an hour, whichever was the greater.

The demand would see the lowest paid council workers achieve a wage of £6.50 an hour - a step towards the £6.75 poverty experts say is the minimum needed to live on.

Unions said the claim was intended to recoup losses from below-inflation pay awards since 2004 and to keep up with inflation over the coming year.

Steve Torrance, who represents UNISON's members on Bradford Council, said: "Despite the headline figure, this is a modest claim.

"No-one could argue that an increase of 50p an hour fuels inflation. Over the past three years local government workers' pay has increased by less than the rate of inflation, so we are starting from a low base.

"We need to make sure they catch up with the rest of the public sector and that they are cushioned against inflation over the coming year."

A Council spokesman said: "Pay negotiations are undertaken at a national, not local, level. All councils, including Bradford, will have the opportunity to contribute to the national debate on the pay award as it progresses."