FIRE crews are sending double the number of appliances to minor incidents on a troubled Little Hulton estate, for their own protection.

Normally only one engine would attend a minor fire on Kenyon Way, but fire chiefs have decided to send two after repeated brick and bottle attacks on crews.

Fire chiefs say it means that fire cover is reduced in other areas, potentially putting the lives of innocent people at risk.

From now, one crew will tackle the fire while the second protect their colleagues from missile-throwing thugs. If they are still fearful for their safety, the crews will call in police back up.

The drastic measures come after fire crews were deliberately lured to the Kenyon Way estate on two separate occasions on Thursday night only to be attacked with bottles and bricks.

Assistant Divisional Officer Ian Bailey said: "If we receive any more calls in that area, where we would normally send one appliance, we will now send two.

"Where there is an issue of the safety of the crew, we will not send one appliance on its own."

He added: "But this means taking a fire engine needlessly away from other areas of the community.

"The crews are just doing their jobs and the youths who are attacking them may well need rescuing themselves a couple of hours later.

"They don't think about what they are doing and the impact their behaviour has on the rest of the community."

Ralph Twiss, divisional secretary of the Fire Brigades Union said: "We take these kind of attacks very seriously.

"Any false call is bad enough but when fires are started deliberately so the crews can be attacked, it is beyond belief.

"Do the parents of these youths know where they are at night and how they are spending their time? They are putting lives at risk."

Firefighters believe youths who were waiting for them on the estate had started the blazes on purpose.

When they arrived to deal with the first fire at about 7.30pm, the crews had to leave it to burn and retreat back to the station in fear for their safety.

They received another call to the same place at about 8.45pm and this time, a second crew went as back up.

A gang of about eight youths aged between 15 and 16 threw missiles from a nearby embankment.

This is the latest in a spate of vandal attacks on fire crews and buses in the Little Hulton area.

A month ago, the windscreen of a fire engine was shattered after youths threw bricks as it travelled to a rubbish fire.

Transport bosses withdrew bus services from the estate after yobs attacked some of their vehicles.

A police spokesman said: "We will discuss the problem with the fire brigade and we will always consider providing assistance to them where it is required."