Lecturers from the University of Kent will strike for two weeks following a dispute over pensions.

The walkouts will be spread over four weeks, with the opening five days set to begin on Thursday February 22.

This comes after Universities UK announced plans to go ahead with changes to the pension scheme that the University and College Union (UCU) claims will leave lecturers almost £10,000 a year out of pocket.

Sally Hunt, the UCU’s general secretary, said: “Staff... are understandably angry at efforts to slash their pensions.

“They feel let down by vice-chancellors who seem to care more about defending their own pay and perks than the rights of their staff.”

Lecturers will also strike for four days from Monday March 5 and for the entirety of the following working week.

Kent is one of 64 institutions across the UK, including Oxford and Cambridge, to be affected by the walkouts.

“Strike action on this scale has not been seen before on UK campuses, but universities need to know the full scale of the disruption they will be hit with if they refuse to sort this mess out,” Ms Hunt added.

In the UCU’s ballot, 88% of its Kent members supported the walkouts with a turnout of 57%.

The university has urged its staff to consider the ramifications the strikes would have on students before taking part in them.

A spokesperson said: "This action is designed to cause maximum disruption to our students and harm to their educational experience.

"The university will take whatever reasonable steps it can to safeguard the interests of our students and hopes that those staff who voted in favour of industrial action will consider very carefully the potential damage before committing to action of any kind."