Benefits could be delayed for claimants throughout Oxfordshire if a civil servants' strike succeeds in closing down job centres.
A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Service union (PCS) said: "Payments could regrettably be delayed. although most payments are made by bank account now, so most claimants will not be affected."
However he added: "Some new claimants may not be able to start the process till later than they would otherwise, and some emergency loans could be affected."
Nationally, tens of thousands of civil servants are to stage walkouts on January 29 and 30 over a pay dispute which the PCS claims imposes a 2.6 per cent pay increase on employees of the Department of Work and Pensions. The department, headed by Work and Pensions Secretary and Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, disputes the figure, insisting that more than half the civil servants would receive at least five per cent.
In Oxfordshire, about 200 people are members of the PCS including civil servants at the Crown Court, employed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs.
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