Bradford schools are facing the prospect of the first teachers' strike in the district for 18 years as part of a damaging nationwide row over pay.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has announced it is to ballot members on a one-day walk-out which could hit primary, secondary and special schools on Thursday, April 24.

NUT general secretary Steve Sinnott said he was "very confident" teachers would vote in favour of action, adding: "I would urge them to vote yes."

And Ian Murch, secretary of the union's Bradford branch, which boasts 3,000 members, said he expected a strike to take place "unless the Government came back with a better offer".

The NUT's decision to ballot members follows a row over pay. Earlier this month, the Government announced a 2.45 per cent pay rise for teachers in England and Wales this year, with further rises of 2.3 per cent in 2009 and 2010. But the NUT said the increases fell below the Retail Prices Index inflation rate of four per cent.

The last teachers' strike in Bradford took place in 1990 over redundancies.