DELIVERY drivers in Thurrock went on strike in a protest over pay.

Seventeen drivers barricaded the gates at the Western Avenue Hotpoint delivery centre in Grays.

The strike, organised by the union Unite, is thought to have affected deliveries across Thurrock, causing delays in deliveries of Hotpoint goods for Amazon, Argos and John Lewis orders which are handled by the same centre.

Leader of the strike, Nigel Guest, who has worked for Hotpoint for 19 years, said: “We are really angry that the company is not listening to us. The only country that made a profit in the whole of Europe was the UK.

“Yet every time we make a profit – because Italy isn’t making profit – we don’t see any of it in our pay.

“We make 15,000 deliveries per week and we only want an extra 5 per cent pay. Times are hard and we have had enough of it now.

“I hate strikes generally, but we have been forced into this.”

The 17 drivers who went on strike last Thursday and Friday said they were committed to stopping deliveries getting in or out until they received their pay rise.

The drivers claim they have had no pay rise for five years, despite the UK division of the multinational company Indesit making more than £2million in profit, a figure the company refused to confirm.

A spokesman for Indesit said: “In light of the industrial action Unite has called for Thursday and Friday, we have taken the step of writing to all of our affected staff to reiterate our offer.

“We remain committed to ongoing dialogue with the union and hopeful any further action can be averted.

“In the meantime, we will continue to do everything we can to minimise any service disruption to both our customers and our retail partners.”