Britain was hit by the most wide-ranging wave of work stoppages in a decade yesterday, with more than 100,000 public sector employees, from teachers to coastguards, striking against the Labour government.

It was another blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown after he was forced by party rebels into a humiliating policy reversal over tax cuts on Wednesday and came a week ahead of local elections that will be his first major test at the ballot box.

Driving instructors, job centre workers and employees in pension and benefits offices joined teachers and coastguard operators in the one-day strike over pay. The unions estimated that between 100,000 and 400,000 people joined the action.

Refinery workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland are also set to strike in a dispute over pensions that could cause major fuel distribution problems.

Business Secretary John Hutton said there was no need for the government to invoke emergency powers and Britain had enough fuel stocks and imports to maintain supplies.

Thousands of striking teachers marched through central London in a peaceful demonstration, bearing placards aloft. Public opinion was divided, with many supporting their stand and many others - largely parents - frustrated at the disruption.

Tens of thousands of teachers and thousands of college lecturers were staging their first national strike in 20 years, frustrated over pay deals they say don't match inflation.

"We teach the future leaders, the nurses, the teachers - you can't do without us," teacher Janet Arthur told Reuters at a protest rally in London.

"It's a vicious circle and poverty will set in. We want to have families as well."

Union spokesman Alex Kenny said: "Today's strike won't be the end of it."

Mr Brown, who came to office last June, inheriting the leadership from Tony Blair, has seen his popularity plummet after a string of crises. He is battling to keep the economy on course and trying to keep a lid on public sector spending.

"It is regrettable for pupils, it is regrettable for parents," he said of the teachers' strike. "This a government that over 10 years has doubled expenditure on education."