Business

Workers at airport operator BAA have voted in favour of strike action that could close Britain's major airports this month.

Releasing details of the ballot on Thursday, the Unite union said that it will decide on Monday what action it will take to allow time for last-minute negotiations with BAA - leaving thousands of people with summer vacation bookings to sweat over the weekend.

BAA has warned that any walkouts will force it to close its airports, which include Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh, because the potential strikers include essential workers like firefighters, security guards and engineers.

Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that a walkout would achieve nothing "apart from damage to business, damage to jobs, damage to the interests of tourists who want to come to visit Britain, or people who want to leave Britain and have a holiday overseas".