The normally hectic corridors of South Lakes' colleges fell quiet on Tuesday as lecturers and support staff joined a national strike over further education pay.

Students stayed away as classes were cancelled at both Kendal College and Barrow's Furness College during the day of industrial action organised by UNISON and lecturers' union NATFHE in protest at a 2.3 per cent pay offer.

The unions say the offer from employers body the Association of Colleges is worth "as little as 13p as hour" to the lowest paid support staff earning £10,500.

By 10am, eight staff had gathered round a flask and a box of biscuits outside Kendal College's Milnthorpe Road site to do a shift on the picket line.

Union leaders said 30 support staff and 40 lecturers would take their turn protesting outside the college's main entrance and at The Creative Arts Centre, on Beezon Road.

"The issue we are dealing with today isn't with management at Kendal College, it's a national pay dispute," said Kendal's NATFHE secretary Les Duckworth.

"The Government is asking more of us and paying us less."

At Furness College, union members picketed outside the entrance as staff arrived until 9.30am.

Corporate services director Bill Edmonds said: "A dozen non-union employees had come to work but all classes were off and students were not allowed into the college because of inadequate supervision for them."

The strikers are pushing for a deal to close a 12 per cent pay gap between lecturers and school teachers and give support staff a rise more in line with the 3.5 per cent given to local government workers and sixth-form college staff this year.

Lecturers' starting salaries are on average £3,000 less than school teachers' and do not rise as rapidly.

After five years in the job, a school teacher could earn £25,764 compared to a lecturer's £21,374.

At Kendal College lecturers get between £ 17,000 and £22,000.

"It's very unfair that people in further education are paid so much less than school teachers when I think we do an equivalent job and an extremely hard job," said Chris Hall, a lecturer in teacher education and English, to nods of approval from fellow strikers.

The picketing lecturers, administration staff, nursery workers and technicians from Kendal College said strike action was a last resort but necessary to make their point.

"The students understood it was a just cause," said Ms Hall, adding that they had self-study work to get on with.

"I think they will benefit in the long term if we achieve our aims - they aren't benefiting from low paid staff because we have difficulty recruiting and maintaining the calibre of staff we need."