Fire strike talks resume

Peace talks were today taking place between the two sides in the long-running firefighters' pay dispute at Acas, the conciliation service.

But there was only a glimmer of hope that a fresh round of national strike action - beginning with a 24-hour stoppage on Tuesday - would be suspended.

Leaders of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) only agreed to attend the talks late last night after what Andy Gilchrist, the general secretary, said was a "show of good faith".

There remains, however, a huge gap which must be bridged between the union and the employers over both the size of the pay rise and how it will be funded before the strikes are called off.

The union wants to know whether a deal, scuppered by John Prescott last November for a 16.2 per cent pay rise over two years, is still on the table.

The deal was brokered by sections of the employer groups but they stressed they could not afford all the increase and the deputy prime minister refused to bridge the gap. Anything less than 16per cent is likely to be rejected by the union.

Two 48-hour strikes are due to take place at the end of the month with the warning of more to come after that.

The union has rejected an 11 per cent rise - four per cent now and seven per cent next year - conditional on industry modernisation.