Tens of thousands of council workers, NHS staff, teachers, firefighters and civil servants will stage demonstrations today to protest at plans to raise their retirement age from 60 to 65.

The union-backed day of action could be followed by strikes in the run up to the general election as part of a campaign to protect pensions.

Last-ditch talks aimed at resolving the bitter row ended without agreement last night.

Union leaders met John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and local authority employers in an attempt to avert the threat of industrial action. But after four hours of talks the meeting ended without a deal in sight.

Unison said that it will now press ahead with a strike ballot of its 800,000 local government members in Britain.

The ballot will close on March 9, and a strike will be held on March 23 - two weeks before the expected date of the general election - unless the deadlock is broken.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison said: "It will be a sad day for local government if the strike goes ahead. With goodwill on all sides, this dispute could still be settled.

"We want the regulations to be withdrawn so that we can get into meaningful discussions about the future shape of the local government pension scheme.

"Our members pay into the scheme week in, week out all their working lives, and they deserve the right to be involved in any decisions about its future and not have to face change by diktat."

Staff in schools, hospitals, colleges, fire stations, government departments, jobcentres, local authorities and prisons will take part in today’s events across Britain.

MPs across the country will also be lobbied at their weekly surgeries and asked not to support any increase in the pension age.

The changes had been "rushed through", with increases in the retirement age the main concern, unions complained.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Cuts in pension provision are the same as a pay cut. The Government’s attempt to raise retirement ages across the seven million who work in the public sector must add up to the biggest ever pensions change.

"We are against ’work till you drop’ policies. For those in heavy manual work or others with stressful and demanding jobs, in fields such as air traffic control or north sea fishery protection, or for those whose work brings them into contact with members of the public in the health and social services, it will simply be impossible, or lead to ill health and even shorter lives.

"Pay is often lower in the public sector than in comparable private jobs, and stress levels higher. A reasonable pension has always helped make up for this. Cutting back pension provision will hit morale and staff retention."

Unison will let off balloons outside Parliament, while an advertising trailer will be driven through Edinburgh.

Bill Midgley, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "It is time the TUC joined the rest of us in the real world. The cost of public sector pensions currently stands around £600 billion. This is a massive weight on the shoulders of existing and future taxpayers.

"The government is absolutely right to raise the public sector retirement age to 65. Without such a move, pension costs would grow even larger, placing yet more pressure on the private sector that has to fund this bill. It will also bring public sector workers into line with their private sector counterparts.

"Businesses have had enough of overly-generous public sector pensions. We would like the Government to go further by raising the level of pension contributions that employees make."

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