FIREFIGHTERS set down their tools this morning as the latest strike in their long-running pay dispute began.

At 9am, crews in Kent joined colleagues across the country on the picket lines in the fight for more pay. Soldiers manning military Green Goddess vehicles were providing cover until 9am tomorrow.

But although 26,000 troops are heading to the Gulf for a possible war with Iraq, firefighters are confident members of the the public will continue to pledge their support.

Medway fireman Terry Carter, FBU vice-chairman for Kent, insisted the war had nothing to do with the pay dispute. He said: “With the government sending soldiers off to war, they are the ones putting lives at risk.

“We don’t want to strike. But we have no choice. There is a choice whether or not to go to war. Who will be the ones helping out in a national crisis? Who will be the ones clearing up in the aftermath of a chemical attack? Us.”

Two months after the last set of strikes, FBU bosses and government officials remain in a bitter deadlock over pay. Two more 48-hour strike dates have been set. Industrial action would begin at 9am on Tuesday, January 28, and Saturday, February 1.