Old pictures of Colchester strikes and demonstrations

From doctors and nurses to teachers and railway workers, they have become widespread as workers protest against real loss fall in wages and highlight concerns about working conditions.

However, these are not a new phenomenon and have always been part of history.

In Colchester and North Essex, there have been some major strikes and demonstrations.

In April 1984, protestors in Wivenhoe clashed with police during miners' strikes that flared up across the UK.

Removed - a protestor being dragged away in Winvehoe (Image: N/A)

It was of major industrial action to prevent colliery closures with picket lines and demonstrations led by Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Keeping watch - there was a high police presence in Wivenhoe during the miners' strike (Image: N/A)

North Essex became a focal point when miners started picketing the dock gates at Wivenhoe - one of five privately-owned ports along the River Colne estuary.

Group - police pictured at Wivenhoe Port in 1984 (Image: N/A)

Freighters carrying coal had begun to unload and the aim of the pickets was to turn back lorries sent to collect it.

Brawl - protestors in Wivenhoe clashed with police during the miners' strikes (Image: N/A)

The miners’ strikes eventually ended on March 3, 1985, nearly a year after it had begun.

In 1990, residents marched and fought in Colchester High Street against the unpopular Poll Tax.

Demo - protestors making their thoughts known on the Poll Tax (Image: N/A)

The Poll Tax – or community tax – was first unveiled by former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher in 1990.

It was a change in the way the levy, used to fund councils, was worked out.

Fight - protestors clash with police during the Poll Tax rally (Image: N/A)

Instead of being based on a home’s value, the tax was worked out according to the number of adults living in a property.

It became a priority in the Conservative manifesto for the 1979 elections and was introduced in England and Wales from 1990.

Tackle - one protestor is taken down during the Poll Tax rally in Colchester (Image: N/A)

But opponents said the tax – which was the same for a mansion as a bedsit – was a tax on the poor and they took to the streets to protest.

Rise up - protestors climbed onto the Castle Park gates to make their feelings known (Image: N/A)

Colchester was transformed in March and May from a shopping centre to the epicentre of running battles between the police and protesters voicing their opposition to the unpopular tax.

Protestors scaled the Castle Park gates, carried placards through the main precincts and shouted anti-Government chants.

Protest - people from all walks of life took part in the rally (Image: N/A)

The opposition never abated and, in 1993, the Government relented and introduced the council tax which has been in place ever since.