DOZENS of dinner ladies are threatening legal action against Warrington Borough Council in a dispute over equal pay.

The women, who work at several of the borough's catholic schools, have been told they are not entitled to the generous pay-outs because they are employed by the church and not the council.

"It's ridiculous really. We're all in the dark," said Susan Lloyd, a midday assistant at St Augustine's Primary School in Westy.

"We've phoned the helpline and they said we're not entitled to a penny because we're paid by the church not the council. But people we work with have already been paid theirs and our wage slips say Warrington Borough Council on them."

The confusion comes in light of the council's decision to offer backdated pay to any employees who may have been paid less than others with similar roles and responsibilities.

Town Hall bosses agreed to use £3.5m of its emergency money to offer settlements of up to £8,000 rather than risk having to pay out a lot more at employment tribunals.

Mrs Lloyd, who has worked at the school for 19 years and earns around £185 a month, says she is considering legal action.

"We just can't understand why some people we work with have got what they're owed and some of us haven't," she said. "Somewhere down the line we haven't been paid what we should have and it's down to the council to sort it out."

The council confirmed it has no liability to equal pay' with midday assistants at voluntary aided schools, as it is not their employer.

It will, however, be conducting a pay and grading review on behalf of voluntary aided schools later this year.

This will result in a new pay structure being recommended to school governing bodies for their consideration.