LANCASHIRE Police are bracing themselves for an increase of 4,000 emergency calls if the county's firefighters go ahead with industrial action.

All 999 calls are usually directed to the Fire Service headquarters in Broughton, where trained operators give advice and direct crews to the scene.

But the strikes, the first of which is planned for October 29, means all calls will be diverted to a call centre at the police's HQ in Hutton as the operators join their firefighting colleagues on strike.

Police union bosses today said they feared the extra calls would stretch staff to the limit.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service receives an average of 4,000 calls a month with Bonfire Night one of the busiest periods of the year.

The proposed strikes are set to cover 36 days up until December.

Lancashire police said extra call centre staff would be used for the strikes, although no special training would be given.

Supt Mark Bartlett said: "Although the police will have additional responsibilities during periods of strike action, our role is limited and our officers, equipment and vehicles are already heavily committed."

As well as taking emergency calls for the fire service, police will also be expected to escort the nine Green Goddess vehicles allocated to East Lancashire to incidents and co-ordinate activity at the scene.

They are currently stationed at an army base in Holcombe Brook, near Ramsbottom, in readiness for strike action.

Mr Bartlett said police officers were neither trained nor equipped to fight fires and rescue people and would not be expected to do so.

Steve Edwards, chairman of the Lancashire Police Federation, said: "This will increase the workload of our already overstretched and overworked control staff and I hope this row is resolved immediately."

John Taylor, spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire control operators were in the same union as the firefighters, the Fire Brigades Union, and were also holding out for a £30,000 per year pay offer. They earn about £1,000 less than firefighters.

There are 40 operators at Broughton -- 37 women and three men -- who work in four watches and have the same shift patterns as the firefighters.