Sandy Gallanders, Head of Human Resources has said that the full impact of the industrial action on council services will not be known until the morning of Wednesday 20.

"We can't know for sure how many of the 8,000 plus employees that are union members will join the strike until Wednesday comes. This makes it very hard for us to say definitively what disruptions and closures we will see.

"Wherever we can open facilities to the public and maintain a level of service, we will do so. But customers should expect to find most Local Services Centres, libraries and other council offices closed and services like bin collections postponed for a day. We will publish details of closures on Wednesday on www.fifedirect.org.uk, along with other advice about council services.

"As the schools don't go back until Tuesday, this will be head teachers' first chance to find out whether they will have enough staff to open as normal on Wednesday. Teachers aren't affected by these national pay negotiations, but all the non-teaching staff in schools are - and it is these staff that head teachers need to speak to.

"Schools will be in touch with parents as soon as they can to let them know whether they can open to children or not on Wednesday. If any schools do have to close, head teachers will use the closure alerts system to send out text messages and emails to registered parents, as they would in cases of severe weather.

"While we hope schools will be able to open, it would be prudent for parents to consider what options they have for childcare on Wednesday in case their school is affected."

Fife Council has been negotiating exemptions to the strike action with the trades unions to ensure that essential services, protecting the most vulnerable people in Fife, can be maintained as far as possible.

Executive Director of Social Work, Stephen Moore said: "At this moment we're still waiting for agreement from the trades unions on which areas will be excluded from Wednesday's industrial action, as well as indications from staff who intend to strike.

"As with other council services, we know that we're going to be facing disruption on the day. Some of our service users will find that we can only provide essential services on the day.

"Our main concern is to take care of those in most need and we will do our best to deliver essential services, such as home care, to the most vulnerable people. We will have to prioritise our resources on the day and we will do our best to keep in touch with clients who will be affected."

Mr Gallanders concluded: "The council will not be able to take many phone calls on Wednesday. I would urge you to wait until Thursday to contact us if at all possible.

"However, for emergencies, please call the council's emergency number 08451 55 00 99, which also covers social work emergencies."