Over 25 Oxfordshire schools are set to close on Thursday as teachers walk out of classrooms on strike in their fight for better pay.

The strike - by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) - is the first for 21 years and it is not yet known exactly how many of the 2,750 Oxfordshire NUT members will be taking part in the industrial action.

So far it has been announced 25 schools across the county will be closed but that is not a final tally.

Among the largest secondary schools which have confirmed they will be closing are Oxford Community School, in Glanville Road, East Oxford, and Fitzharrys School in Abingdon.

Henry Box School in Witney will be closed to year eight and nine pupils. The Marlborough Church of England School in Woodstock will be closed to pupils in years seven to 11.

John Mason School in Abingdon will also be closed but students in year 11 and the sixth form will be able to go into school to work with teachers not in the NUT.

A number of primary schools will be affected including Cumnor C of E School, Cutteslowe Primary School, Edward Feild Primary School in Kidlington and St Ebbe's Primary School in Oxford.

Brenda Williams, secretary of the Oxfordshire branch of the NUT, said: "We don't want children to lose a day's education but in the grand scheme of things there has to be a point at which we identify what is happening to the teaching profession."

Members of the NUT voted three to one in favour of the strike over the Government's offer of a 2.45 per cent pay rise. The union leadership says any pay increase should at least match the retail prices index inflation rate, which was 3.8 per cent last month.