Council staff are angry with the pay cut plans

On Tuesday, unions gave management five days to withdraw letters threatening pay cuts for 2,000 staff.

In a joint statement on Thursday, council and union officials said early indications were they could "work to find a way forward".

More talks are scheduled to take place on Thursday.

The meeting at Aberdeen City Council follows the local authority's decision to implement a pay restructuring scheme, which could see some workers' salaries drop by as much as �16,000.

There was significant progress made and an agreement that discussions will continue Joint statement

The council is introducing the pay restructuring scheme as part of the "single-status agreement" in which salaries are brought into line with equal pay legislation.

Affected employees will have the chance to appeal and a three-year pay freeze will be put in place.

Following Wednesday's meeting, a joint statement released by the council and unions Unison, GMB and TGWU said: "Both groups said that the talks have been very constructive and that they had a much better understanding of each other's position.