SENIOR officers at a North-East fire brigade are refusing to hand over vital fire engines to the Government in a legal row over public liability.

Only a day before firefighters are due to walk out again, it emerged that Cleveland Fire Brigade is refusing to hand over its reserve red fire engines.

Last week, the Home Office issued an urgent request to fire authorities across the country asking that they release reserve appliances for use during the strike.

The appliances are usually only used in case of breakdown or regular fire engines being out of use, but will be handed over to the Army to provide essential cover alongside the famous Green Goddesses.

But fire chiefs on Teesside say they have yet to receive assurances from the Home Office over the use of the appliances.

They are thought to be pressing for guarantees that the brigade will be covered financially if the engines are involved, for instance, in an accident

Executive director Ian Hayton said: "These engines are fire authority property.

"If they pass into military hands there are issues that need to be answered beforehand so we know what risks we are taking."

The brigade's chief fire officer, John Doyle, has backed the use of the red engines. He said: "My personal view is that we should do whatever we can to save lives.

"Regular tenders have high pressure hoses and will be able to get to incidents quicker than Green Goddesses."

County Durham has released two from its five strong reserve list, Tyne and Wear four of its nine engines and North Yorkshire five of its seven.

The Army has confirmed that troops deployed in the North-East to provide emergency fire cover are being trained to use reserve red fire engines.

A spokesman refused to give any detail, but said they could be used in "strategic areas" which had the highest number of regular call outs