INDUSTRIAL action by workers on the public sector brought the north east to a standstill today.

An estimated 150,000 council workers and public transport operators joined the national walkout.

The strike is a protest by public sector workers against plans to scrap a rule allowing some people to retire on a full pension at 60. The government says such a rule is discriminatory.

One-and-a-half million workers, belonging to various unions, are believed to have walked out during yesterday's action. The strike was declared to have been the biggest in the UK since the general strike of 1926.

In all, 11 unions representing the public sector joined in with the strike action.

In Newcastle the effects were particularly hard-hitting. Gill Hale, North-East regional secretary of Unison, the biggest of the unions involved, said: "Inevitably people are inconvenienced by the strike action. That's what happens.

"We would prefer not to be taking this strike action. It is very much a last resort."

Traffic on the A1 between Newcastle and Durham and the A19, which links Newcastle to Sunderland were gridlocked for several hours during the morning rush due to the closure of the heavily used Tyne Tunnel and Tyneside's Metro train service.

Ironically other roads, such as the A69, were deathly quiet as many commuters chose to take the day off and avoid the detremental effects of the strike altogether.

North-East Chamber of Commerce policy director Andrew Sugden said: "It is the ordinary man and woman on the street hit hardest by this strike.

"It's a triple blow for them - transport havoc trying to get to work, parents having to take unscheduled holidays to care for kids because schools are shutting and, if the strike is sucessful, they face higher taxes to pay for pension rights that they themselves will not enjoy."

The Tyne Tunnel was closed to traffic from 11pm yesterday until 11pm today. Emergency vehicles and scheduled buses however were allowed through.

The pedestrian and cyclist tunnels remained open.

A spokesperson for Metro operator Nexus, whose workers belong to unison, said: "Unison has balloted nationwide and our members of staff would have been balloted and obviously have chosen to join the nationwide dispute.

"It's not a dispute of our making and it's not one we can do anything about.

"Unfortunately 100,000 of our customers will be caught in the middle. We just want to apologise to our passengers and we hope they understand that this is something we don't have any control over.

"The Shields ferry is operational and we have been told that traffic on the ferry is almost double what it would be normally.

"This stoppage and the effect it will have on people demonstrates just how important the Metro services are to the lives and the economy of people in Tyne and Wear. We are obviously keen that the dispute be settled as soon as possible."

Nexus declined to comment however on whether or not it supported the strike action of its employees.

Elsewhere, Newcastle Council offices were closed with services such as litter collection, libraries, sports facilities and museums being shut throughout the day.

In Newcastle, several council-run car parks were also closed, with the city council saying that they cannot be opened without proper staff due to health and safety reasons.

Many schools in the area were also closed. In Newcastle and Gateshead, only seven schools were open.

All but nine of the schools in North Tyneside closed their doors to pupils, and of those, many were only able to offer services to pupils aged over 11.

In South Tyneside the borough's entire quota of 51 primary schools, as well as 10 secondary schools, were closed.

Police forces in the area were providing services and had put measures in place to counter any disruptions. Officers had been brought in on rest days to cover for absentees as hundreds of police support workers, including control-room staff were off work.

Chairman of Northumbria Police Authority Alan Arkley said: "If people are working when they should have been on a rest day those are days that will have to be taken another time. The concern is this could happen on a more regular basis and affect the resilience of the force.

"Whilst we can all sympathise with the issues, the knock-on effect of such action is significant."

Chairman of Durham Police Authority Steve Smith echoed these sentiments, saying: "Whilst we can all sympathise with the issues, the knock-on effect of such action is significant.

Such views expressed by senior police officials have only added to the growing public opinion that the strike has backfired for the unions, lowering their standing in the public eye.

Staff at Sedgefield Borough Council joined the strike so its main offices in Spennymoor and all area housing offices were closed.

The four borough council-run leisure centres at Newton Aycliffe, Ferryhill, Spennymoor and Shildon Sunnydale were also shut for the day.

Great Aycliffe Town Council closed its offices, the Oakleaf Leisure Complex, Aycliffe Town Park and St Oswald's Park.

St Mary's, St Oswald's, Moor Lane and Woodham Burn Pre Schools, all ran by the town council, were also closed.

Sedgefield Town Council and Ferryhill Town Council were operating as normal.