West Yorkshire firefighters to go on strike

There will be a reduced number of crews available across the district when members of the Fire Brigades Union take industrial action from noon until 4pm.

The strike follows an ongoing dispute between the union and the government over its public sector pension reform programme.

And ahead of the action, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has warned people to be extra careful.

Assistant chief officer Dave Walton said: “We have an established contingency plan developed as part of our standard business continuity arrangements.

“This plan has recently been exercised and tested using a variety of scenarios and we are confident in our ability to provide fire cover, albeit on a restricted basis, to the communities and businesses of West Yorkshire.”

If an incident does occur, the service can call upon other firefighters who will not be striking, as well as Community Response Operatives.

The service also has an agreement with those taking action that they will immediately return to work should a “major incident” take place during that period.

If there is a fire, people should still call 999 as usual.