I AM writing to express my disgust at Eric Leaver's remarks on stress in the case of firefighters.

Has he ever seen a corpse that's been burnt, or gone to an accident and had to cut a man from a car who had children with him screaming for help?

I agree teachers and nurses have a hard job today, but don't forget they have both been on strike about pay.

Firefighters don't just deal with fires, they attend road accidents, rescue people and animals plus fires, and can't just walk away at the end of a shift if they get a shout.

If, as Mr Leaver suggests, they spend most of their working day playing snooker, whose lives are at risk?

The children who abuse them by throwing stones at them, the cranks who make hoax calls which have to be attended or people like Mr Leaver who thinks they should risk their lives and not put their families first.

Most firefighters probably don't want to take strike action because their families will lose out as well and their lives and property will also be at risk.

They just want to be paid a decent wage for the job that they do.

J THORNLEY (Mrs), Coniston Drive, Darwen.