CLEANERS on Virgin Trains may strike over fears they may lose their jobs.

Rail union RMT has announced it will ballot members for strike action unless it gets assurances for people's jobs.

Five jobs in Carlisle are under threat as Voith Industrial Services, which provides cleaning services on the Virgin West Coast trains, plans to cut 37 full time equivalent jobs - the equivalent of 15 per cent of their workforce.

Craig Johnston, RMT rail union relief regional organiser for the north, said the union had received no assurances that there would not be any compulsory redundancies.

He said: "The RMT will ballot for strike action unless we get assurances on the jobs. We don't accept compulsory redundancies without asking members if they want to ballot."