PRESS ASSOCIATION -- A 24-hour strike by civilian staff at a police force has started.
The Nottinghamshire Police employees are taking industrial action over restructuring and redundancies.
The union Unison has said it is "stunned by the force's reluctance to enter into talks", adding: "We can do nothing else but hold our leaders entirely responsible for the reputational damage to the force, the detrimental loss of public confidence combined with the sheer waste of public money and not least the continued failure to treat you (union members) with dignity and respect."
The force said it had received official notice from Unison that its members of police staff were being asked to take part in two days of strike action today and on Friday.
The union was also calling on its members to take part in continuous action short of a strike - ie work to rule - from tomorrow until further notice.
It said in a statement: "Unison is in dispute over the force's organisational restructure and is demanding a policy used by managers to comply with legislation and implement changes fairly and effectively is re-negotiated.
"However the policy was agreed by the union in October last year and the force believes it is unfair to amend it midway through a process to restructure departments across the organisation."
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley said: "We are extremely disappointed it has come to this as we believe industrial action will not benefit police staff, the organisation or ultimately, the public of Nottinghamshire."
The force says more than 350 police staff have so far gone through the restructure with fewer than 20 compulsory redundancies. More than 150 people have left through voluntary redundancy.
Mr Ackerley added: "I want to reassure the public of Nottinghamshire that we are taking the necessary steps to mitigate any impact industrial action by civilian members of staff will have."