The ballot of Prospect’s 2,000 members produced a 72 per cent vote in favour of taking part in strike action. 85 per cent voted in favour of taking industrial action short of a strike, which is likely to include a ban on overtime working and the withdrawal of goodwill.

QinetiQ has been notified of the ballot result. National secretary David Luxton said the outcome of the ballot demonstrated the strength of feeling among members over the pay freeze.

“We will finalise our plan of action following a meeting of all QinetiQ unions on June 8. Our overriding focus will be to persuade the company that there needs to be a genuine dialogue on the way forward if we are to avoid disruption to the work of the company in the coming months,” said Luxton.

QinetiQ employs over 7,000 staff in the UK and operates over 40 sites with major facilities located at Farnborough in Hampshire, Malvern in Worcestershire and Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.