IT was billed as the largest day of industrial action in the country since the Winter of Discontent in 1979.

Two-thirds of Hampshire schools closed as tens of thousands of union members, including teachers, civil servants, health and council workers, went on a 24-hour strike in a dispute over their pensions.

Unions hailed the day of action as a success, despite a far lower than expected turnout at a rally in Southampton and county council claims that only a small minority of its 40,000 workforce took part, with “no significant impact” on services.

In Southampton about 2,000 bannerwaving union members and supporters gathered in Hoglands Park to march to a rally in Guildhall Square, chanting as they streamed through the city streets.

Unison expected that the rally would draw 10,000 people and blamed wet and windy weather and childcare issues from the school closures for the lower turnout.

Up to 2,000 of the council’s 4,300-strong non-school workforce, many of whom have already been striking for months over pay cuts, walked out alongside thousands of city teachers, which forced the closure of nine out of ten schools.

Rubbish collections were suspended and all libraries closed.

Southampton council leader Royston Smith said it was “self-evident” that most of the striking workers had not made it to the lunchtime rally in Guildhall Square.

“It demonstrates that while people are concerned and worried, and are not happy, they don’t feel the need to go marauding around the streets and behaving the way some of these union bosses do,” he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron said that support among public sector workers had been far from universal and the strikes had looked “like something of a damp squib”.

Unison regional organiser Andy Straker said: “If he thinks 90 per cent of the schools closing in Southampton and half the staff at the council on strike was a damp squib then he’s an idiot.

“He should address the issues, not make stupid comments to get a cheer from his right-wing backbenchers.”

Elsewhere in Southampton, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that just 11 of the 300 staff at its city HQ went out on strike, and that its Lee-onthe- Solent maritime rescue co-ordination centre was “working as normal”.

A spokesman for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust estimated that about 250 staff, including physiotherapists, pathologists and radiographers, were on strike. Some routine appointments and day surgery cases were disrupted.

Southampton Airport said that it was unaffected by the strike, despite fears of chaos from a UK Border Agency walkout.

It said that all members of staff due in yesterday had turned up for work.

In the rest of Hampshire, 318 of 502 schools closed or partially closed. Five out of 53 libraries shut.

County council chiefs also took the early decision to close day centres, so non-striking staff could be redeployed to support residential and nursing homes.

The council said that just 415 council staff and 3,000 teachers, some 13 per cent of its total workforce, went on strike.

In Winchester, about 1,000 protesters marched through the High Street to the park at Oram’s Arbour for a demonstration.

It drew a mixed reaction from the passing crowds, with some applauding and others shouting “get back to work!”.

Winchester Prison officers were legally banned from striking, but staff from its education centre gathered outside to protest.

Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust said that it was operating as normal as far as possible, with only the radiography department running a limited service.

Some residents in Eastleigh and Fareham were left with uncollected bins.

Libraries in Romsey, Ringwood, Hythe, Locks Heath and Totton were shut.

In the New Forest about 90 per cent of council workers defied the strike call.

Small picket lines formed outside the district council’s headquarters in Lyndhurst and its depot in Marsh Lane, Lymington, but bin collections were unaffected by the industrial action.

Its main offices and the five health and leisure centres across the Forest opened as usual.

A Test Valley Borough Council spokesperson said the strike had a “minimal impact” on its frontline services.