CIVIL servants held their biggest strike for a decade yesterday in a row over plans to cut 100,000 jobs.

The action forced the closure of museums and disrupted driving tests, jobcentres, benefit offices and Customs channels throughout the country.

Picket lines formed outside Government offices in the North-East and North Yorkshire, with strikers collecting signatures for petitions and handing out leaflets.

Eighty per cent of staff at the Inland Revenue offices in Middlesbrough went out on strike, while at Darlington, the inquiry desk was closed.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The offices are open and are providing as near a normal service as possible. The priority is maintaining payments to our customers and that is what we are doing."

A spokesman for the Government Office North-East said: "We estimate that about 100 people are on strike out of a total staff of 330. But the office is open for business and we are maintaining a basic service for stakeholders and partners. We do not provide a direct service to the public."

An estimated 10,000 jobs would go in the North-East if Government proposals to cut civil service jobs go ahead.

Gordon Rowntree, regional vice-chairman of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: "We have had tremendous support from the public. The public have been absolutely fantastic, it has been more than I expected."

Cabinet Office Minister Ruth Kelly said she understood the strikers' concerns, but defended the plans.

She said: "The Government is taking efficiency measures across the public sector to increase investment in vital front-line services such as healthcare, education, transport, the fight against crime and helping people back into work."