* U.N. says work curtailed by frequent strikes

* U.N. considers scaling back staff

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI, July 3 (Reuters) - More frequent and violent strikes in Nepal are undermining the security of United Nations staff and their ability to carry out humanitarian activities in the country, the U.N. operation head said on Friday.

The impoverished Himalayan nation saw a rise in the number of strikes in recent years where everything from transport, government offices, businesses, schools to hospitals shut down.

There were 254 days of strikes or "bandhs" last year, according to Nepalbandh.com, a website which monitors strikes. In the last three months, there were more than 200, it said.

"Our people are moving around the country, doing activities such as food distributions or human rights monitoring, and they are constantly being stopped by road blockages, burning tyres and mobs of people who are increasingly refusing to let them pass," Robert Piper, U.N. Nepal humanitarian coordinator, said.

"As a result, the U.N.'s work is dramatically curtailed on bandh days and as the bandhs become more violent, we are getting more concerned about staff security," he told Reuters.

Nepal is emerging from a decade-long civil war that killed 13,000 people and devastated the economy. The former Maoist rebels came to power in a surprise election victory but quit the government in May in a row over the sacking of the army chief.

The new Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, said recently the Maoist peace process is "stalled". The Maoists have often obstructed parliament sittings and organised strikes in a country where more than 30 percent are below the poverty line.

The country's high rate of strikes dates back to well before the civil war ended in 2006, as many Nepalis, from teachers to political activists to ethnic minorities, see it as their only form of effective protest.

The U.N. has 2,300 staff working in Nepal but recent attacks on U.N. vehicles and staff have made the organisation consider scaling down staff activities during strikes.

U.N. vehicles have been attacked in recent months. A vehicle was stoned, the backlights of a bus carrying staff to work were smashed and a brick was thrown through the back window of a vehicle carrying human rights monitors.

Staff members have also been subjected to violence, said Piper, adding that a worker at the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) was "roughed up" in Kathmandu as he drove a U.N. motorcycle on a bandh day 11 days ago.

"If the bandhs continue on the current trend, we will have to shift to essential staff only, a sort of skeleton staff operation, on bandh days and this could mean a reduction of at least 50 percent of our staff on duty on the day of an event."

Trucks carrying food to some of the poorest people have been held up for up to ten days. The strikes restrict access to certain areas for human rights monitors.

Piper said strikes contributed to food price hikes which have risen 17 percent this year.

(Editing by Matthias Williams)

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