A second round of talks are to be held between union officials and management of Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) in a bid to avert industrial action.

Unison balloted members after unrest among front line ambulance staff following the introduction of shift changes in November in Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire.

Unison says staff now face the rush hour at the start or end of shifts and earlier starts are causing fatigue.

GWAS said the changes had been made to ensure there is the right availability of ambulance crews, particularly at peak demand. A ballot of members, carried out last month by Unison, showed that 96 per cent were in favour of industrial action.

As a result talks were held at the offices of ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, in Bristol on Friday but no resolution was reached.Further talks will be held tomorrow at ACAS.

Unison South West regional organiser Simon Newell said: “Some progress has been made, but we’re still a long way off resolving our differences so discussions will have to continue. The changes (to shift patterns) are detrimental to patients’ health as well as our members.”

David Whiting, the outgoing chief executive of GWAS, said before the talks began on Friday: “The changes we are making are about saving more lives. To do that we need to ensure we have the trained staff and vehicles available when and where our patients need us.

“This is not about job cuts and it is not about cutting salaries.

“The changes to shift start and finish times were made so that we can keep as many staff on the road at any one time.”