1 MILLION WALKOUT; PENSION FURY ON STREETS Biggest action since General Strike 17,500 schools close across Britain.

Byline: By CLINTON MANNING, Business Editor

BRITAIN'S biggest strike for 80 years yesterday crippled councils everywhere as more than a million angry town hall workers walked out.

The one-day strike shut 17,500 schools, countless libraries and sports centres, and caused transport chaos as bus and train services were cancelled.

Streets were left uncleaned and dustbins unemptied as picket lines formed outside police stations, day centres and museums.

The local government workers are furious at Government plans to scrap a deal that currently allows them to retire at 60 - forcing them to work until they are 65.

And at a rally in London, union chiefs warned that the walkout - the largest since the General Strike of 1926 - was merely the first salvo in a war that could grind on for months.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said the strikers felt "a burning resentment".

He added: "They are understandably angry at being treated like second-class citizens, ignored by this Government."

He said Labour had been elected to care for underdogs like the low-paid dinner ladies, binmen and cleaners - but were now "kicking them in the teeth" over their pensions.

And Mr Prentis accused Labour ministers of lining up alongside Tory council leaders to do local government workers out of the retirement deal they had earned.

He added: "I'm tired of being lectured at by politicians when I see the pension scheme they will get. It is hypocritical and we will not stand for it." Last night union leaders said the walkout had included up to 800,000 women workers.

A huge number of schools were forced to shut because dinner ladies, caretakers and classroom assistants, downed tools.

Teachers, along with other public sector workers like civil servants, police and health workers, are not affected by the Government changes and so keep their right to retire at 60.

But Unison education spokesman Christina McAnea said many teachers had been giving their striking colleagues strong support because they recognised a two-tier pension system was desperately unfair.

She added: "The closures show you can't run a school with just the teachers - it is a team effort, with teaching assistants, teachers, kitchen assistants, caretakers and dinner ladies all contributing.

"Teachers' pensions are protected and it is wrong and immoral that low-paid school staff will be penalised in this way."

The strike hit all areas of the country. In the NORTH EAST Newcastle's Metro ground to a halt, the Tyne Tunnel was shut and more than half Co Durham's schools were closed. In the NORTH WEST most Manchester primary school and many secondaries were out of action. Bins were not emptied in Wigan, Tameside and Oldham. More than a third of Greater Manchester Police's civilian workforce joined the strike.

In EAST ANGLIA bin men, bus drivers, dinner ladies, magistrates, street wardens and police support workers all failed to show up to work. Up to half a million schoolkids were hit by school closures in LONDON, while Tower Bridge was forced to close along with some crematoria.

At the capital's Guildhall, ex-US president Bill Clinton and Chancellor Gordon Brown had to cross picket lines. Mr Clinton stopped to chat with strikers but Mr Brown ignored them.

In the SOUTHWEST schools, museums and recycling centres were shut. Around 13,000 workers staged protest marches in Plymouth, Devon, and Truro

In WALES 80,000 workers joined the strike. Many flocked to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for a huge rally.

The Local Government Association, representing Britain's council bosses, insisted support for the strike had been "patchy".

Chairman Sir Sandy Bruce Lockhart, Tory boss of Kent Council, said estimates of numbers of strikers were "wildly optimistic".

He said: "Now it is time for us to get back around the table together to come up with reforms of the pension scheme which are fair to council workers and taxpayers alike." But Mr Prentis insisted he was delighted with the turn-out. He added: "Our members have taken the decision to strike very seriously indeed.

"They are not selfish people, they are asking simply for what they have paid for and what they deserve."

Derek Simpson, general secretary of the Amicus union, said both the Government and the LGA should be ashamed of targeting the public sector's lowest-paid staff.

He said the average pension of the people on strike was pounds 4,000, adding: "That's hardly a king's ransom compared to typical boardroom pensions of pounds 168,000 a year.

"We have today been treated to the grotesque spectacle of the CBI, the representatives of the rich and powerful, condemning low-paid public servants desperately struggling to protect their modest pension provisions."

The row centres on Government plans to scrap the so-called Rule 85 - which allows staff with at least 25 years service to retire at 60.

The Government says the agreement breaches EU age-discrimination rules.

And council bosses insist that with people living longer the taxpayer can no longer afford to fund the earlier retirement age.

Ministers plan a meeting with unions today in an effort to end the dispute. Bosses of the 11 unions involved in the dispute say they have a programme of strikes planned for the spring, codenamed Operation Rolling Thunder.

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Voice of the Mirror: Page 6

THE NATIONAL STRIKE

North west

The Queensway Tunnel (above) under the Mersey at Birkenhead closed for the day. Most Manchester primary schools and many secondary schools were closed. Wigan, Tam side and Oldham councils were not emptying bins. More than 4,000 of Greater Manchester Police's civilian workers joined the strike.

Wales

More than 700 schools shut as 80,000 workers joined the strike. Refuse collections in Cardiff were suspended and leisure centres, libraries, swimming pools, play centres and parks were hit.

South west

In Bristol, 47 schools were shut, as were all the city's municipal museums and three recycling centres as 11 unions marched in the city centre (above). 13,000 public sector workers marched in Plymouth and Truro.

North east

Newcastle city centre was gridlocked as the Metro shut forcing 100,000 passengers onto the roads. The Tyne Tunnel, (above) also closed. More than half of County Durham's schools, 171 out of 301, were closed.

Yorkshire & Humberside

Toll collectors on the Humber Bridge joined the strike, giving motorists a free ride - an estimated loss of pounds 30,000. One school - Parkinson Lane Community Primary in Halifax - avoided closure by agreeing to teach pupils the importance of strikes.

London

More than 500,000 children hit by school closures. Tower Bridge was forced to close along with some crematoriums. Gordon Brown and former US president Bill Clinton crossed a picket line to attend a VIP breakfast bash at London's Guildhall.

East Anglia

Dozens of schools in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk were shut. In Cambridgeshire bin men, bus drivers, dinner ladies, magistrates, street wardens and police support workers walked out. Binmen in Colchester, Braintree and Basildon also joined the strike.

CAPTION(S):

FURY: Banner-waving strikers at a Birmingham rally