Jaime Winstone's new film inspired by stripping women in 1968 protest

Actress Jaime Winstone has paid tribute to the feisty group of women who inspired her new film Made In Dagenham, insisting the story is a milestone in the fight for equal rights.

Made In Dagenham is the true account of 300 women workers at Ford's Essex plant who went on strike in 1968 to win their battle against lower pay.

Jaime, 25, plays machinist Sandra, who walked out with her colleagues from their jobs making seat covers for the car giant's vehicles.

"The conditions that the women in the Ford plant and elsewhere worked under were atrocious," the Sun quoted her as saying.

"In summer the machinists' shed was baking hot so they had to strip down to their undies to keep cool. In winter it was freezing and the roof leaked.

"Today they'd have the health and safety people round in a jiff to close the place down, but not then. You just got on with it, as they were tough women with not a shred of self-pity.

"We are a pretty spoilt generation, I think, who get it all far too easily," she said.

The three-week strike ultimately led to the government introducing the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

Jaime said: "Those women were inspirational and beyond praise. Sandra and her mates were strong working-class women, able to hold down a job vital to the production line and also be fiercely proud home-makers.

"They were being paid a lot less than men at the plant and even though they did intricate work, they were classified 'unskilled'.

"This film was juicy and dramatic, funny and also a little sad - a right old cocktail of emotions - so I had to grab it.

"The women were determined they would not be pushed around and browbeaten by management or the men at the factory."

"They held out on strike for three weeks against the odds and won. They had the guts to stand up to the bosses and ask why they weren't getting a decent wage," she added.