Goddesses get 127 calls

ROYAL Navy Green Goddess squads responded to 127 calls in East Sussex between Friday and yesterday morning.

Thankfully, they had no fatalities to deal with during that period of the fire-fighters' strike.

Most of the incidents were confined to the big towns.

A spokesman said: 'It could have been worse. The fewer incidents, the better.'

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Retained firefighters were on strike at Barcombe but at Seaford and Heathfield they carried on working.

Firefighters at Lewes crossed their own picket line on Saturday to rescue a local woman trapped in her car after an accident in the Cuilfail Tunnel.

At various other times in the week they picketed in the pedestrian precinct with a view to getting their message across.

'We have put our case to those who have been prepared to listen,' said Lewes firefighter Tim Cook, 'but we have been demoralised by the lies that have been told by the media and some politicians.'

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Some 400 was collected in Lewes for the firefighters' hardship fund. Liberal amounts of food were also handed over by members of the public.

The strike ends tomorrow (Saturday) morning but resumes, if talks fail to bring about a solution, at 9am on Wednesday for another eight days.

There are 400 full-time fire-fighters in East Sussex and 250 retained officers at 24 fire stations with 39 appliances, plus special vehicles.