Schools were shut and hospital and council services disrupted as public sector workers went on strike.

Twenty-six schools in Sutton were closed and 27 part-closed, with just nine staying open as union members walked out in a row over pensions.

A mass walkout from refuse collection staff meant no recycling, garden or commercial waste was collected throughout the day.

Wallington, the Circle, Cheam and Carshalton libraries were closed because of staff shortages, while Sutton library was set to part-close later in the day.

Sutton’s Unison branch secretary Janet O’Brien said the number of staff who walked out showed the extent to staff’s anger at Government plans to ask public sector workers to pay more into their pensions, work for longer and accept a pension based on a career average salary, rather than the current final salary arrangement many are currently on.

She said: “We have had a big increase in membership in the past month.”

She said the pensions issue was “the icing on the cake” after long-standing concerns from workers about their pay and conditions.

A Unison picket line took place outside Sutton Civic centre, while striking workers at St Helier Hospital also held a picket line outside.

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals’ Trust said minimal disruption had taken place to hospital services.

Fourteen planned operations were cancelled at Sutton Hospital, so it could prioritise emergency and urgent operations.

The council said many of its services were unaffected.

The meals on wheels and care services ran as normal, along with all children’s centres except the Tweeddale Centre.

No disruption was reported at the reception at the Civic Offices and the council’s contact centre.

The council was due to run extra collections on Saturday to clear an expected backlog in rubbish over Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Councillor Sean Brennan said: “The council managed to operate business as usual across most services but schools and waste collections were disrupted and four of our libraries were closed.

“I would like to thank residents for their patience.”

The Sutton Guardian would like to clarify that when this story was published in this week's newspaper, a photo was mistakenly used of a man who was not on strike.