SCHOOLS and libraries will be closed, bins will be left unemptied and social care will run on a reduced scale as local government workers go out on strike today.

Thousands of people will be affected because of the action, which is in protest at proposed changes to the pension scheme.

Unions claimed 6,000 staff were due to walk out across Worcestershire. They included teaching assistants and cleaning staff, which has resulted in a total of 20 schools closing and seven operating on a part-time basis or running just a few classes.

Worcester City councillor Adrian Gregson, the Unison branch secretary for Worcestershire, said: "We hope the strike will hugely disrupt everyday life. This is only the first day of what we expect to be a series of actions."

Emma Martin, a revenue officer at Worcester City Council, is one of those who will join the picket line. She said: "I am only 23 and I joined the local authority two years ago because the pension was so good. Now the Government is trying to take that away from us.

"It is unfortunate that schools are having to close and so on, but that is not the reason for the strike."

One of the schools closed today was St George's CofE Primary School in St George's Lane North, Worcester.

Headteacher Steve Mills said he had decided to close because there would be no trained first-aiders on the site.

He added: "Until the day I don't know how many people will go out."

The closures could leave some working parents with childcare problems.

But Amanda Watterson, whose son Benjamin goes to St George's CofE Primary, said: "Parents have found cover and we support the staff in everything they do. It is a wonderful school and the parents I have spoken to have no problems about the strike."

Worcester, Warndon and Malvern will be among the 10 libraries closed, while four others will shut early.

Worcester City Council's centre in Farrier Street will close and day facilities for the physically and learning disabled will also be hit.

City council chief executive David Wareing said rubbish collections especially would be hit.

He said: "The objective of a strike is to have an adverse effect on public services, and despite our best efforts it is likely, though not certain, refuse and recycling material will not be collected.

"If this happens, residents are advised to take them to the waste disposal sites on Bilford Road or Hallow Road. Likewise, recyclable material can be dropped off at one of the many recycling points around the city."

Cemeteries and crematoriums will run as normal, as will register offices for the registration of births, marriages and deaths. Some of those out on strike work in the administration departments for the emergency services, but these will not be affected.

The dispute has arisen over a plan to end the so-called 'rule of 85'. This allows council employees to retire with a pension from 60 onwards if their age and years of service add up to at least 85.