Athens hit by Greek transport strike after police raid

Traffic gridlock has paralysed Athens as Greek commuters struggle to work by car, amid a public transport strike.

Early on Friday police stormed a metro train depot, breaking up a workers' sit-in. Police sealed off the entrance.

Other transport workers have joined the striking metro workers in solidarity and a big rally is expected shortly.

The conservative-led government used an emergency law to threaten the strikers with arrest unless they resumed work. The row is over a planned pay cut.

The workers had been on the ninth successive day of strike action that has crippled the underground system.

The government is using civil mobilisation legislation, which has only been invoked nine times since the collapse of Greece's military dictatorship in 1974.

Transport unions say they will continue their action, raising the possibility that some could face arrest and criminal charges, with a prison sentence of up to five years.