Barclays settles equal pay dispute

Fifty-six women have won a pounds 500,000 settlement from Barclays Bank in an eight-year battle over equal pay, it was announced yesterday.

The women, employed at a mailing unit in Wythenshawe, Manchester, claimed men transferred to the office were on higher of pay. They will each collect between pounds 5,000 and pounds 15,000. The bank's decision to settle follows a European Court ruling.