Warwickshire fire service to strike again this week

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has confirmed that firefighters in England and Wales - including those in Warwickshire - are to strike on for four hours from 10am to 2pm, over its ongoing dispute with Government over proposed changes to pensions.

Jim Onions, Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Warwickshire, said: “We had hoped that the Government and the FBU would have resolved their on-going pensions dispute and that further strikes would not need to be called. This is now the fifth announcement of a national strike and we hope that there will be a swift resolution in the near future.

“Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service will once again implement its contingency plan to provide the best possible fire service to the community whilst strike action takes place.”

The service will be taking 999 calls during the strike, but will not be able to respond to all requests.

Mr Onions said: “Our focus will be to prioritise calls where a life may be at risk or if someone needs to be rescued, our response must be to those most in need of our assistance.

“We would ask people to make 999 calls wisely so that only emergency calls are made but if in doubt then they must not hesitate to still call 999.”

Safety advice is available online: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue