Hundreds of workers who clean trains on the West Coast Main Line are to stage a 48-hour strike in a long-running row over pay.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said 350 of its members employed by Carlisle Cleaning and Support Services on Virgin Trains will walk out on Friday and Saturday following a 24-hour stoppage last month.

The cleaners have also been refusing to empty train effluent tanks or refill fresh water tanks.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Our members on Carlisle's Virgin West Coast contract have made it crystal clear with a massive mandate for action that they will not accept a real-terms cut in their already low pay and are demanding a living wage.

"We are calling on Sir Richard Branson to recognise the outrageous behaviour of his contractors and to meet the cleaning staff face to face.

"He should demand an end to this exploitation of low-paid workers on one of Britain's most prestigious rail lines in the same way that the Queen stepped in to end poverty pay at Buckingham Palace.

"Running these trains with overflowing effluent tanks rather than resolving the issue of poverty pay is nothing short of a scandal."