Hundreds march through city centre in support of strikes

The demonstrations were staged by York & District Trades Union Council as the biggest strikes in a decade got under way across the country, with up to half a million workers walking out in increasingly bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of seven trade unions were taking industrial action, affecting schools, universities, trains and buses.

Thousands of schools closed for the day because of action by the National Education Union (NEU), and civil servants, train and bus drivers and university staff also stopped work.

A huge crowd of strikers and their supporters - some of them involved in the teachers' strike - gathered at noon today in Exhibition Square to listen to a series of speakers, including a message of support from York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell, before heading along High Petergate to the Minster and then back down Church Street to gather again in St Helen's Square.

Placards carried messages relating to the teachers' strike, such as: 'If you  can read this, thank a teacher,' 'Fund schools properly, invest in the future' and 'Teacher burnout - it is why we have this turnout.'

Others had a more general message, such as: 'Defend the right to strike,' and 'Support the rail workers strike.'

Chants rang out as the marchers passed along High Petergate, including: "Rishi Sunak, on your bike, you will not take our right to strike."

President of York & District TUC Leigh Wilks claimed members were suffering from a cost of living crisis and energy costs which were 'decimating family finances,' while the Government attempted to 'destroy workers rights and civil liberties with repressive and totalitarian-style legislature.'