THE firefighters' pay row flared up again in Medway over the weekend as crews took unofficial action and only answered 999 calls.

From 10am on Saturday, firefighters at Strood and Medway fire stations halted routine duties.

The Medway firefighters were joined by crews in Dartford, Gravesend and Sittingbourne to show their anger over the wait for a pay rise following the 2003 firefighters' strike.

A firefighter at Medway Fire Station said: "We are digging our heels in and making it known that we are upset.

"We have agreed the terms and conditions, gone along with everything they want us to do but still they won't give us the money they promised."

At the end of last year's strike, the Fire Brigades Union agreed to a 16 per cent pay rise over three years. The increase was due to start in November, but the firefighters say the Government stalled, saying not all counties had agreed to the terms and conditions.

Last week, every county had agreed but the firefighters are angry because, they say, the Government has now added more terms and conditions.

The new condition is to change the current stand down between midnight and 7am. This means that the crews do no community work, fire drills, workplace or school visits. The Government wants them to continue during these hours, but the firefighters have refused.

In Medway, the crews have also undergone a reshuffle, involving 12 firefighters being taken off fire fighting duties and assigned to safety and prevention initiatives. In Kent, 85 firefighters have also been deployed to other jobs.

The Medway firefighter said: "We've agreed to absolutely everything but this is just drawing it out.

"We can't go and do fire checks and community work at night - people won't want us to do that and we certainly don't want to be waking up people in residential homes and hospitals to check their fire alarms."

KM-fm spoke to Harry Sawyer from the Kent Fire Brigades Union...