A STRIKE by hundreds of lecturers caused disruptions to colleges across the region yesterday.

Classes had to be cancelled when members of the National Association of Teachers in Further Eduction union (Natfhe) took industrial action over pay.

More than 200 colleges across England - 18 in the North-East - were disrupted as up to 26,000 further education lecturers went on a one-day strike.

Among those hardest hit in the region were Sunderland College, which cancelled all its classes ahead of the planned walkout.

Regional official Iain Owens predicted that about 2,600 lecturers in the North-East took part in the action.

He said: "This is all about the fact that college lecturers' pay has been, for a number of years, behind that of school teachers' pay, and the gap is widening.

"This year, schoolteachers got a 3.2 per cent pay rise and college lecturers have been offered two per cent with a further 0.8 per cent half-way through the year. The gap would widen further if that was to be accepted."

Yesterday, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly was accused of deliberately avoiding angry lecturers who gathered to protest when she made a speech.

Ms Kelly apparently left Birmingham's International Convention Centre through a side door as 300 members of Natfhe held a rally at the front.

Barry Lovejoy, head of colleges at Natfhe, said: "It's disappointing that she wasn't prepared to see the strength of feeling but I'm sure her officials indicated what was going on.

''She obviously anticipated the numbers here and decided to use a side door," he said.

"I just hope that it doesn't mean she is running away from the issue."

The union said that lecturers were angry at a "lowly" 2.8 per cent pay offer and wanted colleges to be funded fairly.

Schools receive 13 per cent more than colleges, said Natfhe.