Hordes of council staff staged a walk-out over pay on Wednesday, hitting many council services.

The strike was prompted by a nationwide three per cent pay claim by local government workers, but in London it was also in support of a capital-wide level of £4,000 in London weighting. Members of the TGWU, GMB and Unison unions were all involved.

Speaking on Wednesday, a council spokeswoman said that 49 of the 86 schools in the borough were closed, as were the customer services centres at Seven Sisters, Hornsey and Wood Green, most day centres in the borough, Wood Green central library, Hornsey library and the civic amenity site at Park View Road.

She added that, although many of the day centres were closed, other social services were on hand to provide an emergency response. Also, the Civic Centre remained open and waste collection and street cleaning went ahead as normal.

The spokeswoman said: "This is the fourth day of strikes we have had this year so we have been quite organised in arranging cover and planning ahead to ensure that services operate and the people that need us continue to get a service."