Junior doctors are beginning a four-day strike as they walk out over a pay row with the Government.

Members of the British Medical Association are on strike today as they demand better pay and argue the strikes are justified to rectify years of real terms pay loss.

It comes after Southend and Basildon hospitals issued an urgent plea to the public to only use A&E in a “real emergency” due to the strikes.

It is expected to be the most disruptive industrial action in the history of the NHS because of its duration and the fact it will take place directly after a Bank Holiday weekend.

NHS bosses in south Essex have warned that staff shortages, exacerbated by the school holidays, will mean services will need to prioritise emergency and urgent care.

Tiffany Hemming, interim executive director of oversight, assurance and delivery for Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, told BBC Essex: “Last time there were 28,000 junior doctors that took strike action across England, and this time it coincides with a lot of consultants having already booked holiday over the school holiday period.

“So we are expecting to have about a third of our normal doctors around to actually deliver care.”

A Mid and South Essex integrated care board spokesman urged people to “please keep 999 and A&E clear for genuine life-threatening emergencies”

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, British Medical Association junior doctors’ committee co-chairs, argue the strikes are justified to rectify years of real terms pay loss.

“Why then has the Government allowed junior doctor pay to be cut in real terms by over a quarter in the last 15 years,” he said, “Why do ministers not understand that only by valuing and retaining NHS staff will the NHS be able to deliver the high quality healthcare it once could?

“Full pay restoration is not a high price to pay for healthcare that junior doctors deliver. That is why this week they are striking to be paid what they are worth.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay labelled the strikes “extremely disappointing”.

“Not only will the walkouts risk patient safety, but they have also been timed to maximise disruption after the Easter break,” he said.