Potential travel chaos in East Yorkshire has been averted after threatened strike action by rail workers was prevented.

Rail union RMT lifted a ballot threat, which could have led to industrial action by members who work for Northern Rail, which runs trains between Hull and Scarborough and Hull and Sheffield.

Union officials claim the company has pledged to adhere to its policy of paying average wages to staff on sick-leave after being assaulted at work, agreed to honour disciplinary procedures and re-instated a sacked health-and-safety representative.

"Northern Rail has stepped back from the brink and this is a victory for common sense," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

"We have reached agreement on a complex set of issues at the heart of what had threatened to be a major dispute, and it is gratifying to be able to say that we will not now be balloting our members."