Radiographers will go on strike today in the latest outbreak of industrial action against the Government's decision not to accept a recommended 1% pay rise for all NHS staff.

Members of the Society of Radiographers across the UK will walk out for four hours from 9am and will work to rule for the rest of the week.

Picket lines will be mounted outside hospitals across the country, including the Princess Royal in Sussex.

The action follows the first ever strike by midwives last week and comes ahead of a stoppage on Friday by prison officers in psychiatric hospitals including Broadmoor.

The action by diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy professionals is the first strike over pay since the early 1980s.

Radiology departments and cancer treatment centres will be affected by the strike, with appointments likely to be cancelled, although emergency and urgent care will continue to be provided.

Richard Evans, the society's chief executive officer, said: "Radiographers who work in the NHS in the four countries of the UK will take part in the action.

"This is the first time since 1982 that radiographers have gone on strike over pay and there is the possibility of more action in the future. The anger that they and other NHS workers feel is very strong.

"The last thing that radiographers want is to hurt the people that they serve. Steps have been taken to minimise the impact on patients. This disagreement between NHS staff and the government has been going on for a long time and radiographers have lost patience with an employer that they feel does not value the hard work that they do."

The society warned that if there was no improvement in pay, there was a real concern that more radiographers will leave the profession for another career, making current shortages worse.

The strike follows a huge turnout at TUC organised protests in London, Glasgow and Belfast on Saturday highlighting the need for workers to be given a decent pay rise.

NHS staff, teachers, civil servants and other public sector workers joined forces with train drivers, postmen, car workers and others in private firms in what the TUC said sent a strong message to the Government.

Union leaders rounded on the coalition for policies they said had led to a real-terms cut for workers since the Government came to power in 2010.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are disappointed that trade unions are taking industrial action.

"NHS staff are our greatest asset, and we've increased the NHS budget to pay for over 12,500 more clinical staff since 2010. We cannot afford a pay rise in addition to increments - which disproportionately reward the highest earners - without risking frontline jobs."