Schools close and bins stay full as council workers strike

Thousands of children across London found themselves on holiday today as a 48-hour strike by council workers closed schools across the capital.

Rubbish remained uncollected as binmen walked out and picket lines formed outside libraries, museums and sports centres.

Across the country hundreds of thousands of council workers walked out after rejecting a 2.45 per cent pay offer. Union bosses have refused to rule out further stoppages and in a separate dispute more than 5,000 driving tests could also be cancelled.

There was a clash between the union and employers about how many people had stopped work. Unison said it expected its 600,000 members to support the strike call. The local authority employers claimed that 300,000 workers were on strike.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has called for restraint but council workers said they were not prepared to accept a belowinflation pay rise.