STAFF at Greater Anglia are set to take part in a strike for two days next month.

Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members at Greater Anglia will join colleagues at Southern, Merseyrail and Arriva Rail North in walking out of work on October 3 and 5.

The dates have been chosen to coincide with the Conservative Party's annual conference, in Manchester.

The dispute centres on the future use of train guards by each of the rail operators.

RMT bosses say they have been left with "no other option" but to strike.

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said the union's main plan is still to resolve the dispute with talks, including with the Department for Transport.

He said: "Greater Anglia have been given every opportunity to give a guarantee on the future role of the guard on their services.

"They have failed to do so and that left us with no alternative but to move to a ballot in the interests of rail safety.

"Our members voted by massive majorities for action but the company have ignored that and have failed to seize the opportunity to give us the very simple assurances on the future of the guards, and the guarantee of a second safety-critical member of staff on current services."

Richard Dean, train service delivery director at Greater Anglia, said: "We are obviously disappointed with the announcement today.

"We're keen to talk to the RMT to try and resolve the issues involved and to avert industrial action.

"In the event of industrial action going ahead, we'd like to reassure customers that we have contingency plans in place and intend to run a full service."

He added: "We value our conductors highly and we have guaranteed their jobs until the end of the franchise in October 2025.

"In fact, we will be recruiting additional conductors, as we are replacing all of our trains with brand new trains from 2019, which will enable us to run more services."