THE county's striking firefighters could be stopped from saving lives if they try to assist RAF crews, writes BILL TANNER.

Hereford MP Paul Keetch has an e-mail he believes says so and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investigating.

Dave Walker, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) spokesman at Hereford, said he hadn't seen the e-mail - purportedly sent by a senior fire officer in Shropshire as an instruction to military firefighters and their escorts across the West Mercia police region.

But the message, said Mr Walker, was broadly similar to that put out by his management.

"They (management) have been categorical. If striking crews turned out to a reported 'shout' they would be turned back."

Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade said protocol agreed over strike cover 'did not include a reliance on striking personnel'.

Insurance is the issue; something striking fire crews would be on the road without if they operated a red engine.

The e-mail also reads: "Our police colleagues are understandably reluctant to release the advice they have received from their own headquarters, but the RAF have confirmed that they received similar advice a few days ago."

Mr Keetch said: "If senior figures are suggesting that fire fighters should not attend fires because it might help their publicity campaign then that is deeply dangerous - it sounds like a politically motivated decision, not an operational one.

"The fire fighters have always maintained that even though they are on strike they will go and assist the armed forces and the other emergency services if there is a life-threatening incident. Of course it would be better if they were not on strike at all, but (stopping them attending incidents) is an issue of public safety and must be investigated."

Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade confirmed concerns over liability where striking crews attended incidents. Chief Officer David O'Dwyer said that protocol agreed between the services did not include a 'reliance on striking personnel'.

Mr Walker said that, in the event of a major incident in the county, both the police and ambulance service had been given mobile phone numbers to contact pickets outside Hereford Fire Station. The pickets' response, he said, could come down to carrying emergency kit in their own cars.