Striking workers protested in Glasgow

More nurseries and nursery schools were affected by the action, which entered its second day on Wednesday.

About 5,000 nursery nurses are thought to be striking in their pay and status dispute with local authority employers.

On Tuesday, hundreds of nursery nurses began industrial action in the west of Scotland and many took part in a march in Glasgow.

The action spread to council nurseries throughout Scotland on Wednesday, when about 200 nurses demonstrated outside Edinburgh City Council offices.

The public services union, Unison, said 2,000 nursery nurses from Edinburgh and the east and north of Scotland had joined their colleagues in the west.

The nurses are demanding a �4,000 a year pay increase, reflecting additional responsibilities they say they have had to undertake.

The public services union, Unison, said the action would continue indefinitely unless its demands were met.

Employers 'disappointed'

Carol Ball, chairwoman of Unison's nursery nurse working party, said: "Parents want to know that their children are being educated by people with the proper training, qualifications and conditions.

"They recognise the justice in our members' claim and that a badly-paid service will not deliver the quality education and care their children deserve."

The local authority employers organisation, Cosla, said it was disappointed that the staff had continued their action on Wednesday.

It said a solution could already have been resolved through further talks.

Extra duties boycott

A spokesman said: "The strike action has resulted in thousands of children being kept away from their nurseries and nursery schools and to disruption and inconvenience to their parents.

"We hope that they will call off the strike action and return to the negotiating table."

The west of Scotland strikers return to work on Thursday. Those in the east go back on Friday.

Unison said that extra duties would continue to be boycotted, including observation, recording assessment and evaluation processes and all clerical, janitorial and cleaning tasks.