FIRE crews County Durham and Darlington dealt with 14 incidents during a recent 24-hour strike.

A 24-hour period of national industrial action was held by Fire Brigades Union (FBU) from 7am on Wednesday, February 25 to 7am on Thursday, February 26.

The strike was part of the on-going dispute between the FBU and central government relating to pension scheme proposals.

During this time, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue attended 14 incidents, including six outdoor fires, six false alarms and a collision between a car and a van near Bishop Auckland.

They were also called to a house in Durham where a toddler was locked inside.

Stuart Errington, deputy chief fire officer, said: “From 6pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday evening we were dealing with eight incidents across County Durham and Darlington; although we coped to get through this busy period, our resources were stretched.

“During this latest 24-hour industrial action, our well-tested resilience plans worked as they have done during previous strikes; we were able to provide people in County Durham and Darlington Borough with a professional emergency response service using trained officers to drive and crew fire appliances.

“We hope that the FBU and government will be able to resolve this issue as soon as possible to avoid further disruption to the service and the community.”

For fire safety information visit ddfire.gov.uk