Striking staff at Huddersfield University say their action was a success.

The action at the university on Thursday was part of a national day of action called by two unions – Unison and the University and College Union.

It involved staff across the campus from lecturers to administrators who staged a picket outside the university on Thursday morning.

UCU branch secretary Jackie Lane said she was not sure exactly how many staff had gone on strike as the figures were being collated by each department.

But she said: “I was on the picket line for more than two hours and barely saw any staff crossing it. There was an open day for prospective students, but the strike action did not disrupt it and everything went ahead as normal.”

She said that in terms of pay, staff had fallen further and further behind with no more than 1% pay rises for several years and rejected the university’s 1% offer this year.

Ms Lane said: “We are now 13% worse off than we were in 2008. We are not asking for more than the cost of living, just a rise to keep up with inflation.”

And she said staff were now working to their contracts, only doing the hours they are contracted to do.

“Many lecturers work weekends and evenings outside their contracted hours,” she said, adding that this action would continue until there were meaningful fresh talks with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.

Nationally, union leaders claimed that many institutions across the country resembled “ghost towns” as their members joined picket lines.

But UCEA, which represents and negotiates on behalf of institutions and has expressed “disappointment” at the move, said the indications were that the strike had a minimal impact.

In all, 149 universities across the UK were affected.