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BBC staff fear a strike is on the horizon at the broadcaster after anger over a below-inflation pay rise offer made amid plans to cut thousands of jobs.

There is widespread consternation among staff at the offer of a 1% increase, seen as derisory given that inflation is running at almost three times that level. It also comes with staff across the BBC worried about their jobs, as the corporation is in the process of rolling out cuts and redundancies that could result in as many as 2,000 people leaving over the next three years.

The pay offer has been rejected by unions, and some staff see industrial action as inevitable, with some already raising the prospect of measures short of a full strike, such as working to rule – where workers refuse to undertake tasks and duties outside the remit of their job, and work strictly to contracted hours.

It represents another early challenge for the new director general, Matt Brittin, who is having to spend the opening months of his tenure announcing and agreeing a cuts programme that had been in the works before his arrival. Falling licence fee revenue means the BBC must save about £500m.

Last month, Brittin had to walk through a picket on his first day in the job, as workers from the World Service’s Newshour and Radio 4’s The World Tonight took industrial action in response to a plan to increase their workloads.

The World Tonight has since emerged as an early victim of the BBC’s cuts programme. It is to be axed after more than 50 years. The cuts are so large that onscreen figures are expected to be among those leaving the corporation.

Insiders said the 1% pay offer had gone down “like a cup of cold sick”. Talks between unions and BBC management are now heading to the conciliation service Acas, but internally many staff see industrial action as unavoidable.

Under the offer, the BBC told staff that they would be given an increase of about 1% or £500 – whichever is higher. That was designed to ensure lower-paid workers received a better pay offer.

However, it would mean that even those on the lowest band of pay outside London would get a pay rise below the level of inflation, recorded at 2.8% in May.

Philippa Childs, the head of the Bectu union, said: “Bectu recognises the funding pressures on the BBC but an offer of only 1% to staff is simply not acceptable when there is a very real cost of living crisis.

“This further highlights the need for a long-term funding solution for the BBC which protects its unique contributions to UK plc into the future. We hope that attempts to come to an acceptable agreement with assistance from Acas are successful.”

Laura Davison, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said: “This offer falls far short of what our members deserve and would leave many worse off in real terms. BBC journalists and media workers continue to deliver accurate, independent, locally relevant and universally accessible journalism in increasingly difficult circumstances.

“The BBC must invest in the talented and experienced staff who make its public service journalism possible.”

The row over pay is yet another sign of the tightrope Brittin has to walk, as it coincides with the cuts plans and talks with the government over the future of the BBC’s funding.

Discussions over the renewal of its royal charter are ongoing. Both sides are said to be interested in shoring up the licence fee by extending it to anyone who watches streaming services, rather than just those who watch live television.

However, such plans risk facing strong pushback from streaming giants.