RAIL commuters could face travel chaos after hundreds of drivers and guards at First Great Western voted to go on strike.

Staff said talks with the company, which operates services in Worcestershire, had broken down and workers overwhelmingly backed industrial action.

A total 75.4 per cent of members of Aslef - the driver's union - voted in favour of strike action, although no dates have been set because 'meaningful negotiations' are now taking place.

The dispute has stemmed from First Great Western's new timetable which has seen dozens of trains cancelled due to a lack of drivers or guards despite staff putting in many hours of overtime.

The executive of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, which represents train managers, conductors and some drivers, will now consider whether to call strikes over the dispute, which also includes claims that managers are being used to drive and guard trains.

General secretary Bob Crow said: "RMT members have today made quite clear what they think of First Great Western's confrontational style of management.

"The votes reflect the anger that our members feel at the company's behaviour, and if it wants to avoid industrial action it should begin to deal sensibly with the range of issues involved and stop the routine use of managers to guard and drive trains."

First Great Western said it was "very disappointed" with the possibility staff will strike. However, it urged members from all parties to keep talking and added a meeting is due to take place tomorrow.

A statement read: "At the heart of this dispute is Sunday working. We believe RMT members have a commitment to work some Sundays. However the RMT believe guards can choose not to attend on Sundays.

"As a commercial, seven-day-a-week operation, we need be able to provide a dependable service for customers.

"To achieve this we have as a last resort used fully qualified safety trained managers working as guards to crew trains. The decision to keep services going because staff are unavailable is only taken when all other possibilities have been exhausted. We will not compromise safety."

A passenger group is due to meet next week to discuss a possible boycott of services.