THOUSANDS of nurses, teachers and police officers have been promised pay rises by some of Worcester's General Election candidates - with a row kicking off over workers' rights.

Theresa May today made an audacious pitch for Labour voters with a raft of new workers' entitlements, including a year's paid sabbatical for people who need to care for sick relatives.

But the city's Lib Dem and Green parliamentary hopefuls have hit out at low pay pushing some working people to food banks, saying their parties would lift the one per cent wage rise 'cap' for the public sector.

Labour's leaked manifesto also hinted at the same measure, with the party's Worcester candidate saying the Tories are not serious about genuine workplace reform.

Worcester News:

The Conservatives' workplace manifesto pledges includes two weeks statutory paid bereavement leave for anyone who loses a child, yearly National Living Wage rises in line with median incomes, the right to have 'paid time off' to undertake training courses and a mandate to keep all existing EU employment laws.

Robin Walker, the city's Tory parliamentary candidate, said: "There are 11 different elements to it but the two really important ones for me are the time people can take off to care for sick relatives, and the child bereavement paid leave.

"There's also the guarantee that not only will all workers' rights under EU law be kept, but we will go even further and build on them."

Labour's Worcester parliamentary candidate Councillor Joy Squires said: "For decades the Tories have attacked worker’s rights and trade unions.

"If they were serious they would be outlawing zero hours contracts and scrapping employment tribunal fees that have done so much to deter workers from exercising what few rights they have.

Worcester News:

"Theresa May is also going back on George Osborne’s pledge to pay a national living wage £9 an hour by 2020 - under her plan it will only reach £8.20."

Stephen Kearney, Worcester's Lib Dem hopeful, today said his party's lifting of the one per cent public sector pay rise 'cap' would benefit 5,036 teachers, 2,093 police officers and 2,440 nurses in the county.

"Living standards are falling, prices are rising and nurses are going to food banks," he said.

"A better future is possible."

Green candidate Councillor Louis Stephen said his party would also remove the cap on public sector pay rises, adding: "When inflation is say one to two per cent, if you don't increase wages by at least inflation you are making quite low paid people have a real-terms pay cut.

"When this continues year after year this cannot be right - even some working people are being forced to use food banks now."

Paul Hickling, UKIP's Worcester parliamentary candidate, said his party would rip up zero hours contracts, calling them "a disgrace".

"It's like going back to the Victorian era, we'd rip them up," he said.

"We'd do numerous other things to help working people, we'd take more of the lowest paid people out of tax altogether."