FIREFIGHTERS claim they were locked out of Farnworth fire station on Tuesday morning as a long-running unofficial pay dispute showed no signs of breaking.

About a dozen officers who turned up for the day watch found the gates were locked.

The station was empty apart from three firefighters who were on holiday when the row erupted last week. Then, fire chiefs sent home crews without pay after they refused to use anti-terror equipment.

Firefighters said they expected their three remaining colleagues to also be sent home, joining the 145 suspended at a total of four stations - Salford, Ashton and Broughton, as well as Farnworth.

Members of all four watches at Farnworth fire station - about 45 firefighters - have now been sent home without pay.

Nine firefighters from White Watch - the last watch at Farnworth to be affected - were sent home at 3.40pm on Monday after refusing to operate new anti-terrorist equipment.

In Bolton, several crews at Bolton Central and Bolton North were only attending emergency 999 calls in protest at the treatment of their colleagues.

Firefighter Paul Norris was one of the nine sent home on Monday. He said: "We are all gutted. We feel that we are being victimised, isolated and picked on.

Stand-by crews will now be covering the Farnworth area until the matter is resolved.

Ralph Twiss, Bolton's FBU representative, said: "Now the entire station at Farnworth has gone except one or two.

"The suspensions have been a bit hit-and-miss, but they know that if they send everyone home who says the same as Farnworth, there would not be any cover at all."

A spokesman for the fire service said Farnworth station, along with the new anti-terror vehicle, could now be out of use until the dispute was resolved.

"Salford has been locked up and effectively closed down," he said. "A notice has been pinned up outside advising firefighters that if they want to come back, to phone a number.

"It is too early to say whether Farnworth will be closed in the same way."

Further negotiations to resolving the firefighters' dispute will resume today with a settlement still in the balance.

Leaders of the Fire Brigades' Union failed to break the deadlock with local authority employers in talks which lasted five-and-a-half hours.