STRIKE action at a Basingstoke college saw some students left without classes for the day.

The walk-out at Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT), in Worting Road, happened on Wednesday, November 16, as part of a nationwide protest against the gap in pay between further education lecturers and school teachers.

John Downer, chairman of the Basingstoke branch of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), said: "We do not enjoy going on strike, but what else can we do?

"There is a gap in pay between lecturers and teachers and it is getting bigger."

Mr Downer claimed that up to 60 NATFHE members at BCOT took part in the action, with 20 forming a picket line outside the college in the morning.

The BCOT protesters were expected to be joined in their action by more than 26,000 fellow union members across the country.

A mass rally was planned for Birmingham to coincide with a visit there by Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.

Beverley Flanagan, assistant principal at BCOT, confirmed some classes had been abandoned, affecting about 100 students out of the college's total population of 2,000.

She added that students were still able to go in to college to study.

First published: Thursday, November 17, 2005