Industrial action across the West Midlands and Shropshire by ambulance crews was called off last night after union members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a pay deal brokered last week.

Trust bosses and union representative spent two days locked in crunch talks in a bid to reach a deal and avoid a string of stoppages by ambulance crews this month.

Union members were balloted over the past four days over whether to accept the deal which will see technicians' salaries rise to £22,000, while paramedics can now be paid between £22,000 and £30,000 under a new banding scheme.

Of the 730 members of Unison, the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel (APAP), Transport and General Workers' Union and GMB balloted, 498 cast their vote. A total of 358 (71.6 per cent) voted in favour of the deal - more than double the 140 members (28.1 per cent) who opposed it.

Last night Ray Salmon, Unison's regional organiser, said: "We've notified all the ambulance control centres that we're stopping all industrial action with immediate effect.

"We will sit down with the employers tomorrow to sign the deal, which will mean our - and the other unions' - members will become the best paid ambulance crews in Britain, if not the world.

"After seven difficult months we've been able to resolve this issue without having to resort to strike action and maintain good relationships with the employers. We now want to draw a line under this and focus on what's happening with the reconfiguration of the ambulance service."

APAP general secretary Mark Weatherhead said: "After protracted talks we felt this was the best offer that could be achieved through negotiation. We are satisfied that members expressed a similar view through the ballot process.

"It is also apparent that the Agenda for Change process for banding is so fundamentally flawed that negotiation on this issue will have to be reinstigated with other services.

"This dispute highlighted that the employers are aware of inconsistencies which will have a long term bearing on basic pay, enhanced payment, and pensions."