Further education lecturers in England have voted overwhelmingly to accept a 4% pay offer.

The ballot result will mark the end of a six-month pay dispute, which included a one-day strike by lecturers in May.

Two further scheduled days of strike action in October were postponed while the ballot was held - with the lecturers union, Natfhe, recommending that members should accept the deal.

But the result does not apply in Wales, where lecturers have voted to continue with their pay campaign.

The agreement in England will see an increase of 3.7% paid by college employers and a further 0.3% through the government-funded "teaching pay initiative".

Lecturers' union, Natfhe, says that 91.1% of those who voted in England supported the pay deal.

And the union says that the college employers will also seek to close the gap between college lecturers' pay and schoolteachers' pay by September 2004.

Pay target

"Our pay campaign has finally got across the reality of college lecturers' pay," said union general secretary, Paul Mackney.

"Our members have voted for this pay offer in the expectation that the government will work with the colleges to ensure that college staff get the same pay as staff in schools by September 2004."

In Wales, a large majority voted against a lower pay offer from employers, with 92% of votes cast against accepting a 2.5% pay deal.

And the union says that it is angry that lecturers in Wales were not offered the same pay deal as their counterparts in England.