PUBLIC sector workers across northern England went on strike in their hundreds of thousands yesterday.

In virtually every major northern town and city they took to the streets in demonstrations, marches and rallies to take to the public their message of opposition to the government’s vicious austerity and poverty wages.

The sun-blazed marches were a sea of colour with workers carrying the banners, flags and placards of their public-sector unions.

The day began with picketing at hundreds of offices of councils and government departments, work depots, fire stations, schools and other workplaces across northern England.

At one Leeds court building pickets reported that only 10 of 140 staff employed there had gone in.

The city saw one of the biggest of the region’s rallies.

Just days after Leeds hosted the “Grand Depart” of the Tour de France, 5,000 strikers and their supporters cheered as they set off to march around the city with their message of protest and defiance.

There were striking workers, pensioners, disabled people, mums and dads with toddlers. Children clasped a parent with one hand and a trades union flag with the other.

The built-up streets echoed to the sound of chanting, vuvuzelas, whistles and horns.

Shoppers and workers on their lunch breaks applauded as the march wound past.

Back in Victoria Gardens the cheering continued at the rally as speaker after speaker tore into the coalition government, its policies of poverty and austerity — and vowed to step up resistance.

The story in Leeds was the same in the towns and cities of north-west and north-east England.

In Wirral, Merseyside TUC president Alec McFadden said: “In all my years I’ve never seen such determined and angry strikers supported by every member of the public. It’s been inspiring.”

Debunking right-wing myths that strikes are irresponsible Mr McFadden recounted how firefighters were cheered when responding to an emergency.