CIVILIAN police staff who say they were undervalued by the Gwent force are celebrating a pay rise.

The Gwent Police branch of Unison appealed against a recent job evaluation which confirmed Gwent's 67 station enquiry officers (SEOs) as a grade three.

The workers have now been moved up a grade on the payscale to grade four, and given a £2,000 pay rise, backdated to 1999, after the appeal co-ordinated by Ebbw Vale SEO Michelle Powell.

She said: "As a grade three we felt we were being undervalued within the force, now we feel appreciated.

"It is such a boost to morale, which had been quite low. "There is a different atmosphere already.

"We are the front desk staff, the people who deal with you initially.

"We just wanted a grade to reflect the work we do."

Unison's Gwent Police branch secretary Linda Sweet said there were a number of appeals ongoing for other police staff gradings and added: "The force is forward thinking and appreciative of the work SEOs do." Gwent's Assistant Chief Constable Bill Horne confirmed a number of recent appeals against grading were dealt with under the force job evaluation scheme.

He said some of these had resulted in a new pay grades, but refused to comment on the details.

He said: "It's important that public service employers have a fair system for assessing staff remuneration, whilst obviously considering the demands on the public purse."