A FIRE brigade union leader has welcomed the ballot giving overwhelming backing for strikes but called it a "sad day" for the service.

Harry Sawyer, secretary of the Fire Brigade Union in Kent, said the national vote of 87 per cent of firefighters in favour of strikes was a "magnificent result."

But he added that he sympathised with people who were concerned about public safety and he said the army would have to use "second-rate" equipment to do the job.

Mr Sawyer, based in Medway, said: "It is a magnificent result, but I think it's a sad day for the fire services that we are having to strike for the first time in 25 years.

"It's now down to our employers to come to us with an offer. It's a national result and we will never know which way each individual vote went but I think in Medway the result would have mirrored that across the country."

Firefighters will stage one 48-hour strike from October 29 at 9am and another from November 2. On November 6, they will strike for eight days, with more eight-day walk-outs to follow.

The decision to strike came after the Fire Brigade Union rejected a four per cent offer. An independent review of firefighters' pay is also under way and is due to report in December.

Firefighters' leaders want salaries for fully-trained officers to rise from £21,531 to £30,000. The army is on standby to use its 50-year-old Green Goddesses to cover for the striking firefighters.

A spokesman for Kent Fire Brigade said contingency plans were in place to cover for the firefighters during the strikes.