Hospital staff across the West are set to strike, plunging the NHS into chaos, in a dispute over pay.

NHS workers in Unison, one of the country's largest trade unions, voted yes to industrial action across England – and it comes as defence workers at two of the West's key Ministry of Defence sites are also consulting on industrial action

Some 68 per cent of NHS workers in Unison – more than two-thirds – of those balloted voted for strike action and 'action short of strike action' in protest at the Government's decision to ignore a recommendation from the independent pay review board.

It means that 60 per cent of NHS staff and 70 per cent of nurses will now not get a pay rise in two years.

The strike action will be taken by nurses, occupational therapists, porters, paramedics, medical secretaries, cooks and healthcare assistants.

While 68 per cent said they were prepared to take part in a strike, 88 per cent said they would take part in action 'short of a strike', which could see even more problems for hospital managers.

Helen Eccles, the head of health for Unison in the south west, said the NHS staff would be taking action reluctantly.

"UNISON members across the South West are struggling to meet their household bills whilst continuing to deliver good quality healthcare across the region," she said.

"It's because of this deep rooted desire to ensure that good healthcare provision is maintained that our members have reluctantly decided that Industrial Action is the only way to make this government sit up and listen. The tens of thousands of UNISON Health members in the South West are asking Jeremy Hunt to come back and talk to the health unions – the power is with the government to end this dispute," she added.

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis refusing to give even a below inflation one per cent pay rise has angered NHS workers. "Refusing to pay them even a paltry 1 per cent shows what the Government really thinks about its health workers. Inflation has continued to rise since 2011 and the value of NHS pay has fallen by around 12 per cent.

"We know health workers don't take strike action lightly or often. The last action over pay was 32 years ago. But we also know a demoralized and demotivated workforce isn't good for patients," he added.

Meanwhile, more than 800 workers at the Defence Support Group are about to be balloted on industrial action in another dispute over pay.

The workers, who maintain, repair and overhaul military equipment, include scores at Warminster in Wiltshire and Bovington in Dorset. They have already rejected a one per cent pay offer for 2014. The DSG group faces being sold off by the Government next year. A ballot opened yesterday (FRI) and will run for a fortnight to see if Unite members working for the DSG are prepared to take industrial action.

""DSG has a cash mountain of £65 million, which will go back to the Treasury's coffers, once the sale has been completed," said Unison's Mike McCartney. "The current DSG management can well afford to give a substantial pay rise to the workers who have made DSG such a success story.

"Feelings amongst our members are running high because of the poor one per cent pay offer, as well as the unknown future they face being sold off to the private sector," he added.

Police last night launched a hunt for an 84-year-old man with Alzheimer's who has gone missing in Salisbury. Ken Stevens was last seen at his home in Winterslow, near Salisbury, and went off to visit the doctors at the Endless Street Surgery, also in Winterslow.

"Mr Stevens suffers from Alzheimer's and his family are concerned about his welfare," said a police spokesman.

"He is described as a white male, of slight build, approximately 5ft 7ins tall and walks with a sharp lean to the right due to a bad knee. He wears glasses and has grey hair.

"He was last seen wearing a beige waterproof jacket and a pair of brown trousers.

Anyone with information as to his whereabouts should contact Wiltshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The West Country could get greater powers to run its own affairs as a result of the Scottish turning down independence yesterday.

Council chiefs and politicians from across the region said they would welcome devolution for the south west – either in the form of 'city states', the shire counties or on a regional basis.

The prospect was thrust to the top of the political agenda after the Scottish independence referendum ended in a 55-45 split against a breakaway – but the promises from Westminster of so-called 'Devo-Max' for Scotland in the case of a 'no' vote were firmly on the table.

David Cameron, promptly outlining time-table for "devo-max" to Scotland as promised on a No victory, signalled the start of the process of "English votes for English laws", ending Scottish MPs voting on English matters.

The prospect of a new English Parliament – along with Welsh and Northern Irish MPs voting alone on policies only impacting their voters – increases pressure for powers on areas including taxation, welfare and health to be devolved regionally.

While Cornwall has been at the front of the queue calling for its own elected assembly, with "Kernow Max" likely to be could be the rallying cry, Bristol has so far been the only place to take up the offer of more powers when they have been given out from London.

The city was the only one in the country to vote in favour of having a directly-elected mayor, while the offer of a regional assembly was first offered, and turned down, by the North East, so not offered to the West Country.

Cornwall Council will shortly start a "conversation" with residents on what responsibilities will demand, while the leader of Somerset County Council said he would welcome greater powers to run Somerset's affairs in Taunton.

John Osman said it was important that rural areas like Somerset – and not just cities –were given greater say over their own affairs and a fairer funding arrangement.

"I'm very pleased to hear Scotland has chosen to remain part of the UK, and I'm particularly pleased to hear the Prime Minister talk about giving all the regions more powers," he said.

"I truly hope this includes rural areas like Somerset. We have suffered from chronic underfunding and have been ignored for far too long. I hope this is the first step towards greater powers and fairer funding for Somerset, and I will be working hard to make sure our voice is heard."

Even before Thursday's vote, West politicians were arguing that if Scotland got more devolved powers, then England, or even its regions, should too.

Transport minister and Wiltshire MP Claire Perry said a problem with a 'no' vote would be 'financial goody bags' for Scotland, while places like Wiltshire and the West Country lose out.

The Conservative leader of Devon County Council said the Government has to ensure the South West "doesn't lose out" as a result of more powers flowing to Scotland.

Mr Cameron said: "I have long believed a crucial part missing from this national discussion is England. We have heard the voice of Scotland and now the millions of voices of England must also be heard."

He added the question of English votes for English laws, the so-called West Lothian Question, requires a "decisive answer so just as Scotland will vote separately on their issues of tax, spending and welfare, so too England as well as Wales and Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these issues".

Commons Leader William Hague will draw up the detail of the plans with the same November deadline as that for the detailed proposals for Scotland.

Following his promise – made jointly with Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg – of further devolution to the Scottish Parliament in the case of a No vote, Mr Cameron has come under intense pressure from English MPs concerned that their constituents are being sidelined.

The so-called Barnett Formula, which results in the South West getting £2,000 less per head in public funding than Scotland, will continue.

Mr Hague signalled it was "unlikely" there would be proposals for "another layer of government", which appears put the kibosh on, say, a South West or Wessex-wide body could mean enhanced powers for existing Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Somerset councils.

John Hart, the chair of the association of South West Councils and leader of Devon county council said the job of the West Country was to make sure it didn't lose out to Scotland.

"We now have to ensure that Devon and the South West doesn't lose out because of the promises made by the Westminster parties to Scotland," he said. "We in the South West already lose out to Scotland because of a funding agreement reached by the Labour Government in the 1970s worth about £2,000 per head.

"We're also facing unprecedented spending cuts in Devon and we can't afford to have any more cash siphoned off to other parts of the country.

"There've been promises made in the heat of the election campaign in Scotland. What the parties at Westminster have to remember is that there's a General Election next May for the whole of Britain. The main parties can't afford to be seen to penalise voters in Devon to benefit the Scots," he added.

A couple who neglected five of their children have had their jail sentences more than doubled.

Nine children lived in bedrooms that smelled of urine and animal faeces and mattresses were soiled, Gloucester Crown Court heard in June.

Police photographs showed the squalor and filth of the family home, including a dirty and cluttered bedroom, ivy growing through a window and an open plug socket hanging from the wall.

The mother was sentenced to two years and nine months and the father was sentenced to two years imprisonment. The couple, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to neglecting the children, ranging in age from a baby to a young teenager, between 2007 and 2012.

Their case was referred to the Court of Appeal in London. Yesterday three judges agreed the sentences were unduly lenient and should be increased to six years in each case.

Striker Jamie Cureton could so easily have been lining up for Cheltenham Town against Dagenham and Redbridge this afternoon.

But the master poacher will be in the away dressing room at Whaddon Road as he aims to move a step closer to his next target of 300 career goals.

Former Bristol Rovers and Swindon Town striker Cureton netted 11 goals for the Robins before being released by boss Mark Yates at the end of last season.

He returned for pre-season training however, taking part in the pre-season friendly at Evesham United and Yates offered him a new deal.

But he opted to join Dagenham due to their proximity to his family home in Essex.

"I enjoyed last season and if I had been offered the deal I was offered in July at the end of last season I'd still be a Cheltenham player," Cureton said. "But I had time to think about things and for family life it's worked out well being at Dagenham, which is 20 miles from where I live.

"I am really enjoying it here so far, I have started every league game and when I am playing games I am happy."

Cureton has been playing as the central striker in a 4-3-3 formation for his new club.

He has already netted three times, but perhaps more surprisingly he has contributed no less than seven assists.

"That's crazy for me, but I have been involved in most of our goals this season," he said. "We started well and while we've had a few losses now, we have been playing okay and it's just individual errors that have cost us.

"We have energy, quick wingers and I've not been isolated, with plenty of bodies around me."

Cheltenham striker Byron Harrison often praised Cureton for his influence and the advice he offered last season, while veteran defender Steve Elliott has taken on some of the 39-year-old's dietary tips as the looks to extend his own playing career.

Cureton has stayed in touch with many of his old team- mates and he said that while he was looking forward to seeing them this afternoon, when the match starts he will be bidding to do what he does as well as anyone else in the country.

The highest active goal- scorer in English football has 261 career goals and he is showing no signs of slowing down in his 40th year.

"I am still pushing for 300 goals and while I will enjoy seeing the boys, I will be as professional as always when the game starts," he said.

"Playing against old clubs is something I am used to and while this one has come around quicker than normal, nothing will change.

"It's nice to see Cheltenham starting the season so well and as long as they don't do too well against us in the two matches, I wish them all the best for the season. Both teams will want to attack and it should be an entertaining game."

Brigadier Ronnie Stonham, of Castle Cary, who has died peacefully at South Cary House, aged 87 years, was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School from where he joined the Post Office engineering department in 1944.

In 1948 he was granted an emergency commission in the Royal Corps of Signals and posted to 2nd Divisional Signal Regiment in Germany where he commanded 19th Field Regiment RA Signal Troop. He returned to civilian life at the end of his National Service in 1949 and joined the Territorial Army with 3 Signal Regiment. Unfulfilled with civilian life after the military, he applied to return to the Royal Signals in 1951 and was granted a commission.

He was posted to Cyprus then to Moascar in Egypt's Suez Canal Zone in 1952, before moving to El Ballah to command 32nd Guards Brigade Signal Troop. It was here that he met his future wife, Joy, who was attached to the British Military Hospital.

In 1954 Brigadier Stonham and Joy returned to the UK for their wedding and settled in Richmond, Yorkshire for Brigadier Stonham 's job in Catterick, at the start of their married life.

In 1957 Brigadier Stonham was appointed Signal Officer, Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit at RAF Middle Wallop, where he was involved in helicopter trials.

Postings to Malaya and Germany followed during the childhood of their three daughters, as Brigadier Stonham became involved in several intelligence-based jobs as he was promoted through to Lieutenant Colonel, taking command of 4th Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment in Herford, Germany, until 1971. He then moved to the Defence Intelligence Staff at the Ministry of Defence, spending time with the American forces in Vietnam, also visiting Laos and Cambodia.

Promoted to Colonel in 1973, he was appointed chief instructor at the School of Signals in Blandford for two years. This was followed by six months on the Senior Officers' War Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and then 18 months as chief signal officer, Headquarters 3rd Division at Bulford.

On promotion to Brigadier in 1978, he commanded 12 Signal Brigade (Volunteers), being appointed an Aide-de-Camp to the Queen in July 1980.

His last tour, before retiring in July 1982, was as Brigadier General Staff (Author) in the Ministry of Defence where he wrote the classified operational history of the Northern Ireland campaign.

At various stages during his military career he served as secretary of the Royal Signals Saddle Club, Chairman of the Royal Signals Yacht Club and Chairman of Royal Signals Shooting.

On retirement in 1982, he secured an appointment with the BBC, dealing firstly with a complete revision of the UK's Emergency Broadcasting Plans, in liaison with the Cabinet Office and Home Office, and secondly with a review of the Corporation's Staff Vetting Policy.

After leaving the BBC in 1989, he became the project officer for the new Royal Signals Museum in Blandford. Handing over the reins of this project three years later, he then became involved with various voluntary welfare and fund-raising activities in Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset, including as a case worker for SSAFA, chairman of governors of his local primary school and chairman of the Royal Signals Welfare Committee. Indeed, he remained active throughout his retirement only handing over Chairmanship of the Castle Cary Branch of Macmillan Cancer Support at the age of 85.

He was also treasurer of the Friends of the Cemetery Chapel in Castle Cary and was largely responsible for the fundraising that made restoration of the chapel possible.

His final year was a very happy time spent in the care of the staff at South Cary House.

A strong family man, he is missed by his three daughters, all currently living in Somerset, their families and many friends and colleagues. "A true gentleman" is how he is frequently described by those who knew him.

A service was held recently at the Church of All Saints, Castle Cary to celebrate Brigadier Stonham's life. It was followed by interment in Castle Cary Cemetery with his wife Joy.

It is a tale of Victorian conspiracy, a king's sacrifice and a secret royal child smuggled away to live in rural Wales.

And this week in Copenhagen, there was something of a historical crisis after a new book claimed the only descendant of the supposedly childless King of Denmark was alive and well – and living in Melksham.

Irene Lewis Ward is the woman, who, at 87, has published a book explaining exactly how she is the great-granddaughter of King Frederik VII of Denmark, who was the last of the great 400-year-long Danish royal dynasty.

And with the publication sparking a furore in Copenhagen, she is busy working on a follow-up to explain exactly how she discovered it all.

The saga involves one of the major European conflicts of the 19th century, Queen Victoria and the British Government trying to stop the expansion of Germany, a baby smuggled out of Denmark to be raised in secret in north Wales and a lifetime's quest to solve the riddle.

Irene's first book tells the story as a dramatised documentary – her second will chart how she uncovered one of the greatest secrets of the 19th century.

Irene's story claims that, to stop the infamous Schleswig-Holstein question sparking a major European war, the British Government conspired with Danish king Frederik VII to spirit his newborn baby daughter out of Denmark in secret.

The baby girl was taken by the British Ambassador in Copenhagen, Sir Henry Williams-Wynn, all the way to his country estate in north Wales, and then 'farmed out' to a local family.

That baby grew up to be Elizabeth Wynn, who had a son, but then she died when he was a child. That boy grew up to be Irene's father and, as an old man tried to find out who his parents – and particularly his mother – were.

"He spent many years trying to find out, and ultimately failed. He realised early on the people who raised his mother were not her real parents, and he discovered that she was connected to the Williams-Wynn family but he had doors slammed in his face when he asked how," said Irene. "I promised him that I would continue to search, although it took me years before I even started."

She and her late husband began that search in the summer of 1969. When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, they were in a rainswept campsite in north Wales, going nowhere fast. The trail eventually led her to Copenhagen, where Sir Henry was stationed at the time of her grandmother's birth.

It was there that the scandal finally revealed itself. "I did research, I went around asking questions and in 1981, through an amazing series of coincidences and introductions, I was found by a woman who told me a story. She said her grandmother, on her deathbed, had divulged a secret that had been told her by her grandmother on her deathbed.

"That woman was the wet-nurse who was paid to take the newborn baby girl of the King and the Countess. She took her with the English ambassador all the way to north Wales and handed the baby over to a family in a village. It all fitted, and suddenly I realised the mystery had been solved," she said. "I promised not to tell the story until after this lady had passed on, and now I can. What is amazing is that we were looking for what we assumed was something of a local scandal in north Wales – the daughter of one of the Williams-Wynn family getting pregnant or something like that. We had no idea we would discover that I was the great-granddaughter of the supposedly childless King of Denmark," she added.

Since the book was published this week, she has been inundated with inquiries from Copenhagen, where the rumours of a secret child of Frederik VII have always been something of a conspiracy theory.

* Victorian political dynamite - What was the Schleswig-Holstein Question and how does it lead to Melksham?

The story begins with the infamous Schleswig-Holstein question, which perplexed European authorities for decades. Denmark ruled those two duchies, Schleswig and Holstein – which now form part of northern Germany – but the people living there regarded themselves as German, and the expanding Prussian Empire wanted to take it over.

The question involved a quirk of different medieval succession rules between Denmark and its duchies. If the King of Denmark had a daughter, she would become Queen of the whole of Denmark but her children would not have been recognised as rightful heirs to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. So Frederik VII having a daughter would have prompted a constitutional crisis that would then have sparked a major war between Prussia and Denmark. Britain in the 1840s and 1850s feared the rise of Prussia (which is now modern-day Germany) and did not want the growing European superpower to gain a North Sea coastline - which Schleswig and Holstein provided. 

Mrs Ward's book claims how, in 1851, exactly that happened: King Frederik VII's third wife, Countess Danner, had a daughter, which was spirited away by the British ambassador to be brought up in rural north Wales.

The ploy worked in that the baby remained a secret, but ultimately failed because Schleswig and Holstein did eventually rebel, a war ensued in 1864 and Prussia annexed them, creating an expanded Germany.

Mrs Ward's book "The Price of Peace - A Conspiracy of Silence" is available on Amazon. The second book, published soon and outlining how she made the discovery, will be called "Piece by Piece - A Genealogical Jigsaw"

David Cameron has held out the promise of a "new and fair" constitutional settlement for the entire United Kingdom after Scotland voted decisively to reject independence and remain part of the Union.

The Prime Minister hailed the referendum vote – 55 per cent to 45 per cent against breaking away from the UK – saying it represented the "settled will" of the Scottish people which should put an end to the independence debate "for a generation".

Following a campaign which galvanised all of Scotland, he vowed that promises made by the three main Westminster parties to devolve more powers to Holyrood would be "honoured in full", with draft legislation in January.

But speaking on the steps of Downing Street, he made clear that they would go hand in hand with a "balanced" new constitutional settlement covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In particular, he said there would have to be reform at Westminster to address the thorny issue of "English votes for English laws", suggesting that Scottish MPs would no longer be able to vote on exclusively English issues.

The plan was dismissed by Labour – whose chances of forming a majority government at Westminster are likely to depend on Scottish votes – as a "knee-jerk reaction" driven "more by politics than by a considered judgment of the needs of the constitution".

However Conservative MPs made clear they were not prepared to tolerate a situation where Scottish MPs could vote on the level of income tax for England while income tax in Scotland was decided in Holyrood.

At the end of a dramatic night, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond finally conceded shortly after 6am yesterday that his dream of leading his country to independence was over.

"Scotland has by a majority decided not at this stage to become an independent country," he said in a speech to supporters in Edinburgh.

Alistair Darling, who led the Better Together campaign, said it was a "momentous result" for Scotland and for the United Kingdom as a whole.

"The people of Scotland have spoken. We have chosen unity over division and positive change rather than needless separation," he said.

With the votes from all 32 council areas in, the result was a victory for the No camp by 2,001,926 votes to 1,617,989 – on a record 84.5 per cent turnout.

The result – which was more comfortable for the Better Together campaign than opinion polls had suggested – was greeted with relief in No 10, where there were fears that a Yes vote could have triggered a major political and constitutional crisis.

"The people of Scotland have spoken and it is a clear result. They have kept our country of four nations together and like millions of other people I am delighted," Mr Cameron said.

"Now the debate has been settled for a generation, or as Alex Salmond has said: 'Perhaps for a lifetime'."

The Prime Minister underlined his commitment to greater devolution of power to Scotland with an announcement that Glasgow's Commonwealth Games supremo, Lord Smith of Kelvin, would oversee the process.

However his promise of reform at Westminster to ensure that "the millions of voices of England" were also heard, opened up the prospect of a prolonged new political struggle leading all the way to the next general election.

For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander accused the Prime Minister of a "fairly knee-jerk reaction which ... may well have been driven more by politics than by a considered judgment of the needs of the constitution".

At the same time, Mr Cameron is under pressure from Conservative MPs who warned it was "inconceivable" that Scottish MPs would be able to continue voting on English affairs once tax-raising and other powers are passed to the Scottish Parliament.

Former cabinet minister John Redwood said: "We as the English Parliament must settle the English income tax rate."