Forces on standby for new fire strike

The Government today put 19,000 troops on standby for emergency fire duties in case firefighters strike again across the UK.

But the armed forces may not be ready in time. Official documents show eight weeks are needed to train and position troops - yet a strike could be only six weeks away.

The forces stepped in during the 15 fire service strikes last year. However, they had to to drive ageing Green Goddess appliances as they were not trained to use modern fire engines.

Now, after a further breakdown in two years of talks over pay and conditions, the leaders of Britain's 55,000 firefighters have called a new strike ballot.

The last-minute hitch left local authority employers and the Fire Brigades Union at loggerheads, with the FBU blaming the Government for a "seedy little plot" to wreck a deal over "stand-down time" between midnight and 7am.

The employers accused the FBU of being "greedy" for refusing their wish to include public holidays in the normal working week.

The deadlock has held up payment of a 3.5 per cent increase backdated to last November, and the second instalment of a previously agreed 7.7 per cent increase has been withheld. The FBU wants a ?25,000-a-year basic rate for all firefighters.