Ground laid for fresh fire talks

Negotiations continue to break the strike deadlock

Union chiefs and local employers are to meet separately as each prepares for the resumption of talks aimed at ending the ongoing firefighters' dispute.

The employers will hear details of a meeting between negotiators and the fire services minister, while the Fire Brigades Union executive will discuss developments over the last week.

The present strike will continue until the weekend and, despite plans for discussions, the chances of a quick deal appear distant.

Downing Street is pleased with the army's response

Friday's meeting between the union and local authority employers will be the first face-to-face talks since last minute discussions broke down just hours before the current walk-out started.

The eight-day strike is set to end at 0900 GMT on Saturday and will be followed by two further eight-day-long walkouts next Wednesday and on December 16 - unless a deal can be found.

Unison's general secretary Dave Prentis made it clear his union would not talk with ministers about modernising public services while the fire dispute continued.

Mr Prentis said Unison was fully behind the firefighters and had asked members to offer moral and financial support to the FBU.

	:	Opposed to change?
Picketing firefighters have their say

The prime minister has also stepped up pressure on the striking firefighters by announcing a review of the way joint control rooms have been operated by the military during the dispute.

Tony Blair is said to believe centralised control rooms set up jointly by the military, senior fire officers and the police during the past week have proved highly successful.

They are likely to be a key part of modernisation demanded by the government, in return for any pay deal.

That could have been all her life savings, I find that a bit hard to take

Tom Murray
FBU Northants

But the FBU and other unions are fiercely opposed to such wholesale changes.

Maggie Dunn, Unison's senior national health officer, said control rooms would become call centres.

"You can't afford to have 'call waiting' while people's lives are at risk," she added.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man has been cautioned by police after making two hoax fire calls on Wednesday evening.

The man, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was warned after the first call, then arrested and later released with a caution.

The picket lines are holding firm

In Northampton firefighters are still stunned after a mystery woman walked up to a picket line and handed them a £7,000 cheque for their hardship fund.

The woman wished to remain anonymous but a fire spokesman said her generous donation was a result of help the fire service had given her in the past.

Tom Murray, chairman of the FBU in Northamptonshire, said: "Somebody that is able to do that because of some way we have helped in the past is just incredible."

London Underground is considering legal action to halt a planned ballot of Tube workers in a dispute linked to the firefighters' strike.

If it is told it has a case, the firm is set to take legal action against the Rail Maritime and Transport union.

Bob Crow, the union's general secretary, believes staff feel at risk in the Underground while there is inadequate fire coverage.

Seven people have died in house fires since the start of the eight-day strike last Friday, when negotiations broke down after the government refused to approve a deal.