Conductors on Arriva Trains Northern are staging their 18th strike in a dispute over pay.

Members of the RMT union walked out at midnight on Friday and will not return until midnight on Saturday.

The industrial action makes it one of the longest-running rail disputes of all time.

Services across Northern England are affected.

New offer

Ray Price, managing director of Arriva, said a new two-year pay offer had not been put to workers by the union.

"The RMT has again targeted a Bank Holiday weekend, with the consequential adverse impact on tourism," Mr Price added.

The RMT said the proposed deal was worse than one put forward at the start of the dispute.

Arriva said trains would still run on 75% of its network.

Customers are advised to check train times before they travel.

'Solid' strike

The union described Arriva's estimate that 70 conductors had decided to work on strike day as "a gross exaggeration".

The spokesman added: "Even if this was true it would mean that the strike was 90% solid."

Station and retail staff at Arriva Trains Northern launched a 48-hour strike on Friday in a separate dispute over pay.

Meanwhile, planned strikes by train drivers at Arriva Trains Merseyside were suspended on Friday after a new pay offer was made.

The union Aslef said walkouts planned by its members next week and in September would not go ahead.