STRIKING firefighters do not understand the “excellent” deal on offer in their bitter row over pensions and delayed retirement, a minister said.

Penny Mordaunt also accused supporters of the strike of being “incredibly patronising to older workers”, who wished to stay on the front line past the age of 55.

But North-East MPs spoke out in favour of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) – one accusing the Government of “politically-motivated behaviour” in refusing to give ground.

Pat Glass, the North West Durham MP, added: “When is the Government going to genuinely sit down with the FBU to settle this as the Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are doing?”

And Alex Cunningham, the Stockton North MP, said “How does refusing to change a single word of regulations improve morale – or refusing to negotiate improve trust?”

Other Labour MPs said it was a “disgrace” that the dispute had been allowed to drag on for three years, recently triggering the longest fire strike for 38 years.

The clash came after a four-day strike during one of the fire service's busiest weekends of the year, between Halloween and the eve of Fireworks Night.

Union officials say that, under the Government's proposals, firefighters must work until they are 60 - instead of 55 - pay more into their pensions and get less in retirement.

The package will also leave firefighters at risk of losing their jobs as their fitness declines into their 50s, the FBU said.

Industrial action over the past 18 months has forced fire authorities to spend millions hiring contractors to cover for striking FBU members.

But, during questions in the Commons, fire minister Penny Mordaunt said the deal – confirmed on October 28 – offered fresh protections on both pensions and jobs.

And she told MPs: “It’s evident that they don’t understand the scheme, which is an excellent scheme – and we are doing firefighters a disservice if we say otherwise.

And on retirement at 55, the minister added: “That’s incredibly patronising to older workers. We need older workers to stay in the fire service, they have good experience.”

And, asked if she was ensuring that no firefighter would lose their job if they failed a fitness test and were unable to fight fires, Ms Mordaunt replied: “Yes.”

Ms Mordaunt also said she had experience of the fitness required for the jobs, telling MPs: “I have trained as a firefighter – I’m a fire reservist.”

She said the Government could not, unlike Wales, change regulations, because it had 60 different fire services – but was pursuing the same approach as Scotland.

But another Labour MP warned the Government’s own documents suggested two-thirds of firefighters would fail the tests by the age of 60.