South Ayrshire Council is set to make free school meals available to children who are eligible for them during strikes next week.

But rather than hot meals, which can't be provided during the industrial action, packed lunches will be made up instead.

All council-run primary, secondary and special schools in the area will be closed to pupils on Thursday, November 24.

A nationwide ballot of teaching trade unions has resulted in an announcement of industrial action by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and the Association of Heads and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS), with the first day of industrial action taking place on this date.

Only school teaching staff are affected by the industrial action, however, given the impact on the council's ability to deliver education, the decision has been taken to keep pupils off that day.

Now the local authority have said that every primary school in South Ayrshire will be prepped with packed lunches for all children eligible for free school meals.

The lunches will be provided to eligible pupils in both primary and secondary education - but secondary pupils will need to go to their nearest primary school to pick theirs up.

In a statement a spokesperson said: "During the first day of industrial action affecting our schools (Thursday 24 November 2022), packed lunches will be made available to children eligible for free school meals.

"Every South Ayrshire Council primary school will pre-prepare packed lunches consisting of a bottle of water, piece of fruit and a sandwich (cheese or turkey), and these can be uplifted between 12noon and 1.30pm on the afternoon of the 24th.

"A collection desk will be set up at the front door of each primary school, and a member of staff will be present to assist any children and families wishing to collect a packed lunch."

They added: "Secondary school pupils who are entitled to free school meals can also collect a packed lunch from their nearest primary school.

"Packed lunches will not be available for collection from the council’s secondary school locations.

"If any child has a special diet plan in place and they need a particular sandwich filling, we would ask that our catering teams are notified of this no later than 12noon on Tues 20 Nov by emailing catering@south-ayrshire.gov.uk with your child's name and school."