BBC staff protested when the announcement was first made

Ballot papers for 10,000 members of the National Union of Journalists, Bectu and Unite will be sent out next week.

Bectu general secretary Gerry Morrissey said he was confident of a "yes" vote when the ballot closes on 9 January.

The BBC is planning to cut 2,500 jobs to save money. It said it found the unions' decision to ballot for strike action "difficult to understand".

The corporation has asked staff to volunteer for redundancy but has not ruled out compulsory redundancies, leading to the unions' decision to ballot.

Director general Mark Thompson announced the job cuts - as well as the creation of 700 new posts - as part of a reorganisation prompted by a smaller than expected licence fee settlement from the government.

If members vote to strike, industrial action could take place sometime in January.

'Cherry-picking'

Unions said the BBC was preparing to select staff for compulsory redundancy and accused the corporation of "cherry-picking" staff.

"Our members are deeply concerned about the strain they will be put under as a result of the BBC's cutbacks," said National Union of Journalists general secretary Jeremy Dear.

The majority of redundancies will come in news, programme-making and regional centres.

Unions are demanding that the BBC looks for volunteers in other areas of the corporation.

They are also objecting to plans to withdraw allowances for new staff who work unpredictable or unsociable hours, along with changes to its pension provision.

'Difficult to understand'

The BBC said it would continue its dialogue with staff and unions.

It added that it was "difficult to understand" the unions' decision as compulsory redundancies were now "much less likely" in some parts of the corporation.

"It's important to say that the vast majority of staff will not be affected by the proposed job reductions," a spokesperson continued.

"A strike will inevitably hurt the people who pay for our services. It will not change the overall economics of the BBC."