The Telegraph & Argus celebrates it 150th anniversary this year and in honour of the occasion we are printing a story from our archives every day for 150 days.

Today we look at the Telegraph & Argus, Tuesday, December 8, 1970: Dozens of major factories throughout Britain had been crippled as thousands joined a 24-hour strike in protest at the Government’s Industrial Relations Bill.

In Bradford, the strike did not appear to be well supported, with only 150 men out of the 2,500 employed in three English Electric factories joining in with the action. With no solution in sight to the pay dispute the country was struggling under a series of black-outs.

In the Bradford district many children were sent home from school because their heating systems were brought to a standstill, hospitals were on reduced power with reports of a possible shut-down and the big rush for stocks of candles had cleaned out most shops and stores.

During the 1970s power cuts and lengthy blackouts had become a fact of life as the country's electricity network had been vulnerable to mechanical failure or industrial action.