NO MAJOR incidents occurred in Swindon as firefighters staged their second strike in two days, which lasted four hours last night.

Members of the Fire Brigades’ Union left their posts between 6pm and 10pm on Saturday night, making it their sixth round of industrial action in on ongoing disagreement with government over pensions.

While a thatched house was damaged during a blaze in Pewsey, it was a quiet night for Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service elsewhere.

Area Manager Julian Parsons said: “The industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union had an impact on where the supporting appliances came from, but the initial attendance was close to what we would normally expect.

He added: “Although we had half of our available appliances committed to this fire for some time, we were able to maintain an emergency response for the rest of the county.”

Crews at ten of Wiltshire’s 24 fire stations were unavailable to respond to incidents during the strike, but the service had contingency plans in place to maintain cover across the county using on-call firefighters and alternative locations as appropriate.

As a result, there were 11 appliances available ‘on station’ and a further five ‘on call’.

As of 10pm, all striking crews returned to duty.