SPA civil servants took part in a one-day strike on Friday over Government plans to axe 100,000 jobs.

Staff at the VAT office in Worcester Road were called to the picket line by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

The union represents 88 customs and excise members in Droitwich Spa. They were demonstrating, not only against Government plans to cut jobs, but proposed changes to conditions of work.

One in five civil servants in the country will lose their job and those remaining in employment will have to work longer to receive their pension.

"The majority of people supported the strike," said Steve Bradfield, PCS Customs and Excise branch secretary for the West Midlands. "We do not know when these job cuts are going to happen."

Mr Bradfield said workers were very worried about the uncertainty of their futures.

He added: "The message of our campaign is that the Government can't arbitrarily cut jobs without it having a negative impact on public services.

"About 16,500 jobs are under threat in Customs and the Revenue. We believe that it makes more sense for the Chancellor to employ VAT and excise officers on work that would generate billions of pounds from uncollected tax rather then seek to generate millions from job cuts.

"In short more people and resources in customs and excise equals more money that can be invested in hospitals and schools."