IF you have walked or driven past Warrington’s Job Centre recently, you may have noticed its windows have been boarded up.

The centre, on Mersey Street at Bridge Foot, has had wooden boards installed to cover the windows.

This is part of national industrial action involving more than 1,400 Job Centre security guards.

A week-long strike was in force last week involving angry staff in dispute over pay rates that their union says see 90 per cent of them paid just the minimum wage.

Security guards employed by G4S across the UK walked out last Monday, with the strike action continuing until Saturday just gone.

Union GMB said the Department for Work and Pensions handed G4S £211million to run security at job centres, despite employment costs being just £161million during the same period.

Eamon O’Hearn, GMB national officer, said: “Job Centre security guards are punched, attacked and savaged in the neck by dogs – just for carrying out their duties.

“Yet 90 per cent of them struggle to get by on the minimum wage, while G4S trousers millions from the DWP.

“It is abhorrent, and these strikes will keep escalating unless G4S agrees to pay them a wage they can live on.”