pounds 4m payout for dinner ladies

Some 1,500 dinner ladies are set to share pounds 4m in an out-of-court-settlement of an equal pay dispute. The women, formerly employed by the now defunct Cleveland County Council, will receive payouts ranging between pounds 600 and pounds 5,400.

Their claims - comparing their wages with those of gardeners and refuse collectors who earned up to 40 per cent more - were lodged 18 months ago at industrial tribunals. Barrie Clement