Lynn's Alderman Jackson School and Ethel Tipple School and Pott Row First School were closed on Wednesday and Thursday.

Services across the country were affected as hundreds of thousands of Unison members, including local government staff such as teaching assistants, library staff, dinner ladies, cooks and cleaners, took part in the national action over a below-inflation pay offer of 2.45 per cent.

PCS union members, including driving test examiners and coastguard control room staff, were also striking in their own pay row.

The Unison strike also disrupted waste and recycling bin collections in North Norfolk but services run by West Norfolk Council were unaffected due to a locally-agreed pay deal.

Unison Norfolk branch secretary Jonathan Dunning shifted the blame for unexpected schools disruption on to the county council for failing to make prompt decisions over which schools would close as a result of the planned action.

He said: "In previous years the local authority has taken the responsible approach of advising governors to make early decisions about whether schools were going to close.

"From the information I've got it seems the local authority has given a very different message to schools and that change could be responsible for people turning up to drop off kids only to find schools closed."

Norfolk County Council director of corporate resources and cultural services Paul Adams said: "We have tried very hard to keep disruption to our services to a minimum, but some closures are unavoidable.

"This is a national dispute which will need to be settled by discussions at a national level and we hope that a settlement can be reached without further disruptions for the public."

A one-day action at driving test centres kicked in on Wednesday. learners were advised to turn up for tests but warned they could be cancelled.