WITH the start of an eight-day strike just hours away, it's been revealed that gun threats have been made to firefighters on a picket line in Kent.

A man in Deal threatened to shoot the firefighters if his family was put at risk by the strikes. He made the threats last Thursday on the second day of the national strike over pay and conditions.

The man had driven to the fire station to talk to the strikers about the industrial action. Fireman Craig Sheridan said: "He believed he wasn't getting anywhere with the conversation, and things got heated.

"He told us that if any of his family in Deal or anywhere else in the country were injured or killed during the strike action, he would return to the station with his shotgun and shoot the lot of us."

The firefighters noted the man's car registration and informed the police. Mr Sheridan added: "It hasn't really bothered us."

Kent Police spokesman Jon Green confirmed the report of threats in relation to the strike. He added: "We have made a note of it and will keep aware of it."