THE fire dispute which blew up last week when firefighters at Salford fire station refused to use anti-terrorist equipment looks set to continue.

Up to 162 firefighters have been suspended across Greater Manchester, including 37 from Farnworth station, in the week-long dispute.

Firefighters are refusing to use the Incident Response Unit stationed at Farnworth and Ashton-Under-Lyne, or to undertake training with defibrillators, until they receive a 3.5 per cent pay rise which they say they were due to get last November.

They are also in dispute with bosses over stand down time for night shift firefighters. Fire chiefs want firefighters to carry out training, inspections and other duties at night rather than them sleeping for part of their shift.

Greater Manchester Fire Authority is refusing to pay the money because they claim that the pay rise was on condition that firefighters agreed to use the Incident Response Units and introduce new working practices as part of the fire service's "modernisation" agreement, which settled the last fire strike.

Ralph Twiss, Fire Brigades Union official for Bolton, said: "There had been growing unrest for some months and once Salford fire crews were suspended then their colleagues across the county, including Farnworth supported them."

Fire authority bosses believe the dispute flared up in Manchester because union bosses sent out a circular to fire stations across the county - telling them not to undertake any further training or to use the IRU equipment.

Fire crews were sent home because of the fire authority's policy of partial performance which was introduced last May. Partial performance means that if any firefighter withdraws from undertaking any of his or her duties then fire chiefs can send them home without pay, although they would not be sacked.

The vehicle at the centre of the dispute is the IRU, which was commissioned back in 2001 by the Government after the September 11 attacks on New York. The IRU is fitted with a forklift truck and is stationed at Farnworth because it lies close to the national motorway network and could attend an incident anywhere in the country.

They have equipment which can decontaminate 400 people an hour after any chemical or biological attack. Each vehicle weighs 26 tons and is 36ft long.

They are manned by two firefighters and all the firefighters at Farnworth have been trained to use the anti-terrorist equipment. But crews at neighbouring stations Salford and Broughton have also been trained and would provide back up.

Fire crews in Salford, Broughton and Ashton were sent home last week when they refused to use the anti-terrorist equipment.

Colleagues from Farnworth station were suspended on Thursday night. Firefighters from Bolton Central station would only answer emergency 999 calls in support of their suspended colleagues.

Last Friday, Fire Brigades Union bosses notified management that they would ballot its 2,000 members across Greater Manchester to take industrial action. It will take at least three weeks before any industrial action takes place.

A national Fire Brigades Union conference will be held in Southport on June 15, where it is expected that secretary Andy Gilchrist will call for a national strike.

But the dispute could be resolved if talks taking place this week between national employers and the FBU are successful.