Journalists at the UK's largest regional publisher are set to vote on possible strike action.

The National Union of Journalists has confirmed its members at Reach plc - which produces the Gloucester Citizen, the Gloucestershire Echo and the Western Daily Press - will be balloted on strike action and/or action short of a strike.

The move follows the union's decision to reject a pay increase offer for Reach employees of 3 per cent or £750, whichever is more, according to Hold the Front Page 

Reach was informed of the decision by the NUJ on Friday and members of the Reach NUJ group chapel will be balloted in the coming weeks.

Annual results for the company indicated a £24m rise in cash balances with operating profits of over £146m during 2021.

According to the NUJ, Reach chief executive Jim Mullen's £4m pay package last year was worth 107 times the pay of median earning Reach employees, the website reported.

One Gloucestershire-based journalist told Punchline: "Many of us have been wondering whether we would get a pay rise and this is pretty abysmal, given the cost of living these days.

"I know times are tough in our industry, like many, but Reach needs to pay people properly if it wants to retain quality journalists.

"I haven't heard anything from the company about any annual increase, as I always used to, and do feel in the dark on this."

Punchline says: "Good journalists should be paid the correct amount. They do such a fundamental job No matter what you think of your local regional press, good journalism should be supported and paid the right amount."

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