HUNDREDS of firefighters from across Kent will travel to London on Monday to take part in a protest march over wage levels.

Thousands of firefighters, including 10 coach-loads from Kent, are expected to gather outside Westminster Central Hall where the Fire Brigades Union and the Fire Service National Employers will be holding last-ditch talks to avoid strike action.

The union is pressing for a 40 per cent pay increase for firefighters from £21,500 to £30,000 a year - a claim that has been dismissed as unrealistic by their employers.

They also want a new pay formula to replace one devised in 1977 linking firefighters' earnings to those of male manual workers.

The march is the last in a series of protests in cities across the United Kingdom.

If an agreement is not reached, the union is expected to vote in favour of strike action at its recalled annual conference on September 12. It would be the first national strike by firefighters in 25 years.

Kent chairman of the Fire Brigade Union Mark Simmons said: "This is the last chance saloon for the employers to put an offer on the table. So far they have put down nothing."