Students have complained that they are being asked to "snitch" on teaching staff after their university asked for names of their striking lecturers at the beginning of an 8-day walkout.

Sheffield Hallam university has posted a form on its website on which students can enter details of the lectures missed due to strike action.

This has angered some students, who have implored their Twitter followers to spam the form with nonsense.

Twitter account Hallam Student Support The Strike posted: FUN FACT - "The 'grass on striking lecturers form' is public - anyone can access it If you've got a spare minute, why not submit a report or ten telling Sheffield Hallam exactly what you think of this scheme?"

Pranksters tweeted evidence that they had done just this, with one pretending to have missed a lecture by "Dr Seuss" and another posting quotes from Animal Farm.

Other submissions include "you must really hate your staff" and "we are not your surveillance tools".

A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson explained: “To help us ensure that students do not miss anything essential, we are monitoring what activities are impacted. Staff aren’t obliged to tell the University of their decision to take industrial action until after the end of the strike period. The form available helps us capture sessions that have not taken place as soon as possible so we can proactively plan alternative learning opportunities and minimise disruption for students.”