Court staff braved the freezing weather to mount picket lines in Oxford at the start of a two-day pay strike on Thursday.

Pickets at the entrance to Oxford's courts in St Aldate's

Brandishing placards demanding "fair pay for all", union members stood at the three entrances to Oxford Combined Court Centre, in St Aldate's, from 7am.

Up to half of the clerks, ushers, typists and administrative staff at the courts were thought to be involved in the strike. Staff were due to continue their action on Friday.

Two judges were sitting at court yesterday, one dealing with civil matters and the other a criminal trial.

However, another trial was adjourned for two days after some jurors said they did not want to cross the picket line.

Across the country, court workers were taking similar action after the Government's Department of Constitutional Affairs imposed a lower-than-inflation pay rise last year.

As reported in yesterday's Oxford Mail, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union voted to strike because the department gave them a 2.8 per cent rise, when inflation was 3.1 per cent. Speaking from the picket line, Paul Gibbons, a senior PCS member who works in the bailiffs' office at Oxford's court centre said: "It is rather cold but there are around 12 of us picketing the court, with some of us doing three or four hours in rotation. I think about 50 per cent of court staff are striking and we're getting plenty of support from local people.

"We're not doing this to cause disruption to our customers, we're trying to get the people in London to take notice."

Mr Gibbons joined the picket line outside the court in St Aldate's at 6.45am yesterday.

The national strike included court workers and staff at the Home Office and the Treasury Solicitor's Office who are members of the PCS.

The action was originally to include job centre staff. They postponed industrial action for two weeks, after receiving revised pay proposals from their employer, the Department of Work and Pensions.

Mr Gibbons said: "The Department of Work and Pensions has begun talks with its staff, but we have been told there's no chance and we should get on with it."