FIREFIGHTERS enjoy the utmost respect from the public they serve. They do a skilled job, often in life-threatening situations.

It is fair to say that in a pay dispute they are a profession who could generally expect significant popular support.

However, they risk alienating themselves from the public in their current dispute over pay and conditions.

It is usual in negotiations for a great deal of bargaining to take place before a compromise is reached between employees and employers.

In this instance, local authorities appear to have come up with a reasonable offer of four per cent, above the rate of inflation and above the rise many thousands of workers in the public and private sectors can expect.

The pay rise demand of nearly 40 per cent from the Fire Brigades Union appears far from reasonable.

The proposal on the table to seek an independent inquiry into levels of pay within the fire service is a sensible course of action, and the public will find it difficult to understand why it is being opposed so vehemently by the union.

The public will find it even more difficult to understand the outbreak of unofficial industrial action which followed the collapse of talks yesterday afternoon.

We sincerely hope the Fire Brigades Union is able to control the situation.

No one wants to see Army Green Goddesses on the streets of Britain, and lives being put at risk because of the first strike by firefighters in quarter of a century.

But, equally, no one wants to see a return to the era of wildcat industrial action when the country was held to ransom by public service workers.

We trust that common sense will prevail.

Numbers' up

OF all of Britain's new towns, Washington has more attributes than most.

One of the flaws in its creation, however, was its road system.

While Washington's use of numbers rather than village names on direction signs distinguishes it from other towns, it has frustrated motorists for decades.

Finding your way round Washington requires mathematical and memory skills beyond the reach of the average person.

The use of good old place names represents progress for the new town.