TWENTY-TWO schools in the town have so far said they are set to close on Thursday as teachers stage a walkout over a long-running row with the Government over pay, pensions and workloads.

Members of the National Union of Teachers have decided to strike as part of a bitter dispute over ‘excessive workload and pointless bureaucracy’, performance related pay for teachers, ‘unfair pension changes’ and concerns over teacher numbers.

Beth Purnell, division secretary for the NUT in Warrington, said: “Teachers only ever take strike action as a last resort. We deeply regret disruption to pupils and parents.

“We are in dispute with the Government about pay, pensions and workload.

"The massive increase in teachers’ workload since 2010 is not time spent on preparing exciting lessons for your children, but on form-filling.”

Birchwood Primary, Chapelford Village, Culcheth High, Evelyn Street Primary, Grappenhall Hall, Grappenhall Heys, New Horizons, Oakwood Primary, Penketh Primary, Penketh South Primary, Sacred Heart Primary, St Bridget's Primary, St Margaret's Primary, St Paul of the Cross Primary, The Cobbs and Warrington St Barnabas will all close on Thursday.

Barrow Hall, Beamont Primary, Bewsey Lodge Primary, Brook Acre Primary, Green Lane School and Latchford St James Primary have also confirmed they will be closed on Thursday.

But this number is expected to grow as a number of schools have yet to confirm whether they will remain open.

Many schools will also see a number of its lessons disrupted with some partial closures across the town.

But it is not only schools that will be affected by the industrial action on Thursday.

Council staff, health workers, civil servants and firefighters are also set to stage a mass walkout.

Services across the town could grind to a halt as thousands of workers are expected to take part in the public sector workers strike.

Firefighters from the Fire Brigades Union, civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services union, council and school support workers in the GMB, Unite and Unison have already said they will be taking part in the strike, which is poised to be the biggest co-ordinated public-sector strike in years.

For more information on school closures, click here