A Hereford school was forced to close yesterday after a group of teachers went on strike over a long-running pay dispute.

In total, 35 NASUWT members at Aylestone High School took industrial action after they claimed the school had refused to meet its statutory obligation to properly assess its staff for progression to the upper levels of the teachers' pay spine.

Brian Oakley, NASUWT national executive member for Hereford and Worcester, regretted the decision to strike but said it was necessary.

"An agreement was reached last week, which would have seen the industrial action avoided. However, the head teacher, Mr Wray, has declined to act in accordance with that agreement and therefore industrial action at the school will go ahead," he said.

"The NASUWT remains ready to engage in constructive negotiation to resolve this dispute. However further attempts to contact the chair of governors and bring the school back to the negotiating table have met with no response," he added.

Herefordshire Council's director of education, Dr Eddie Oram, responded by saying the one-day teachers' strike was pointless.

"The head teacher of Aylestone High School has already indicated, in constructive discussions with the unions, that he is assessing each of the relevant staff against the performance criteria," he said.

"He will then decide, as the unions have requested, which of the teachers have achieved the performance required to progress further up the upper pay scale. There is, therefore, no reason for the strike to continue and the other teacher unions involved have accepted the position," he added.

However, Mr Oakley said this had been going on for far too long and disputed the claims that his union was alone in its opposition.

"As far as we know, Mr Wray is the only head teacher in the country who has not yet carried out his statutory duties. This should have been sorted out nearly a year ago and the NUT are also preparing to go on strike in response to this delayed action," he explained.

"If this issue is not resolved fairly quickly, there will be another one-day strike in the near future," he added.