STAFF at Burnley Crown Court have been on a two day strike after joining thousands of civil servants across the country to protest over pay.

Three quarters of the employees were said to have downed tools and a picket line of members of the Public and Commercial Services Union waved placards to put its message across outside the building.

Court cases were not believed to have been disrupted and while many employees were not at their posts, it was business as normal for Judge Raymond Bennett, the town's Honorary Recorder, who worked through his lists in Court One.

Strike action was called across five Government departments by the PCS to protest about poor and inadequate pay offers for 2003 and a cut in living standards.

The union says civil servants are entitled to better pay across the board and to have the problems of low pay tackled.

It demands better treatment and is claiming that pay for civil servants is worse than for most other public sector groups, including local government, the National Health Service and eduction.