Council workers' strike continues

Council workers have held demonstrations across the country

Council workers are staging the second day of a 48-hour strike, hitting services such as schools, libraries and rubbish collections.

The Unison and Unite unions expect more than 500,000 staff to walk out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The unions say rising prices make the employers' pay offer of 2.45% effectively a wage cut, and want 6%.

The employers - who put the number of strikers on the first day at 100,000 - say they cannot afford any more.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, who will use an open-top bus to visit picket lines in London, said there would be "massive support" for the continuing action.

'All the way'

Unite national officer Peter Allenson said: "What is very clear is that local government workers are angry.

"They are fighting to be able to afford the essentials, not the luxuries that their employers on six-figure reward packages can afford."

He added: "Judging by the tremendous turn-out on picket lines across the country, this is a fight that these workers will take all the way."

The Local Government Association insisted there would be no further offer.

Hundreds of workers have taken part in protest marches in cities including Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff and Newcastle.

Workers in Scotland are not on strike, but the Scottish secretary of Unison, Matt Smith, said a walkout was planned unless councils agreed to renegotiate their pay offer.

BBC News employment correspondent Martin Shankleman said the strikes were the biggest challenge yet to the government's tough line on public sector pay.