HUNDREDS of Merseyside bus drivers have voted to strike during Liverpool’s busiest weekend.

Drivers at Stagecoach, which operates around one in five of Merseyside’s buses, announced they are planning a four-day walkout from this Friday in a row over pay.

The Mathew Street Festival weekend is due to start on Saturday, with the main events kicking off on Sunday and running through Monday.

Stagecoach, which employs more than 360 drivers in Merseyside, said six routes would be cancelled altogether on Friday and Saturday. They include the popular number 10 from St Helens to Liverpool city centre and the 86 from Garston to the city centre.

But the company said “most” daytime services will run as normal during the industrial action. It plans to draft in more than 100 extra drivers and vehicles from across the UK to help handle the fallout.

The dispute came about after bosses and drivers failed to agree on a pay increase. Stagecoach offered employees an annual rise of 2%, but the drivers are understood to have demanded 3%. A Stagecoach source said that was a difference of just “nine pence per hour”.

It is thought talks between the union and Stagecoach broke down on Friday.

A company spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed that the union has chosen to call this strike, particularly given that the vast majority of our employees have not voted in favour of strike action.

“We have offered employees an annual increase of 2% which we believe is a good offer in view of the current economic uncertainty.

“We would urge Unite to reconsider this planned strike which will cause unnecessary disruption to the people of Liverpool and will also hit the pockets of many of our employees’ families.”

Liverpool City Council said it would be updating the Mathew Street website, which is at www.mathewstreetfestival.org, with information about how to get to the events if the strike goes ahead. No one from Unite was available.