Junior doctors descended on Newcastle's Monument in force on Wednesday at the culmination of a mammoth day of strike action which saw teachers, tax collectors and BBC local radio staff among thousands on picket lines around the region.
As the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave what has been described as a "back to work" budget, junior doctors were marching from the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to the city centre landmark. The striking British Medical Association (BMA) medics were joined by members of the UCU and PCS unions on an almost unprecedented day of strike action.
This was during the third day of a 72-hour walkout from doctors around the region - amid a pay dispute which has seen juniors demand the Government "restores" their pay to levels seen in 2008. The BMA says, in real terms, doctor pay has fallen 26% since then.
