THERE was more trouble at Waterston's Dragon LNG site last week as staff downed tools for two days.

Around 400 workers refused the work on Wednesday and Thursday after a dispute over the water supply.

The four-hour interruption to the water supply on Saturday triggered dissent among workers who claim they were unable to continue their jobs.

The problem was caused by a damaged mains pipe but rather than wait to find how long the repair work would take, several employees left the site early without consulting management or union representation.

The pipe was fixed by Saturday lunchtime.

Dragon LNG workers were later startled to find they had not been paid for the day.

On Thursday at around 7.30am a meeting was held by many workers in the staff car park and even more employees gathered to stage a further walk out after learning of Saturday's events and the withheld pay.

After the Mercury investigated claims that the latest action was indicative of deeper trouble in the ranks, possibly linked to rates of pay, Dragon LNG spokesman Derek Lloyd said, "It doesn't matter if you are from Milford, Pembroke or Portugal - the pay is the same for everyone and is set at nationally recognised pay rates."

A further meeting was held at the staff canteen on Friday morning and an agreement was made to return to work on condition that a one-off £100 payment be made to each worker with no penalty for lost time.

Work resumed on Friday.