FIRE crews from across Bolton, Bury and Leigh walked out of their stations at 9am, joining more than 50,000 firefighters nationwide in an eight-day strike after last-ditch talks ended in failure

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Station Officer Dave Pimblett, from Bolton Central, said: "I hope we now get public support. It is the Government which is putting lives at risk."

Bolton South-east MP Brian Iddon said the strike was "sad." He added: "It appears the firefighters would have settled on 16 per cent but they are refusing to embark on a modernisation programme."

David Crausby, Bolton North East MP, said: "Firemen are important, but then so are a lot of other people and everyone would like to have more."

Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly said: "I most certainly agree that firefighters should receive a fair wage and that is why I fully supported the establishment of the independent review of the fire service. It is only a pity that the FBU refused to engage and state their case for a 40 percent pay rise."

Bolton Central Leading Fireman Mick Nolan, who has been a firefighter for 28 years and walked out in the 1977 strike, said: "I am just devastated that this is going ahead. We feel it's not about money it's about politics. We don't want to put people's lives at risk. That is not what we are about." Firefighter Tony McKenna said: "We have been getting fantastic support on the ground level from the public."