FIRE chiefs and union bosses today said they were hopeful of avoiding a strike by firefighters after a last minute face-to-face meeting.

The Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) had been preparing to ballot its members on industrial action which would have taken place in the first two weeks in February over plans to cut the number of crews on engines.

When the plans were approved by the Lancashire Fire Authority in December, some of the 100 firefighters who packed the meeting shouted "shameful" and "disgusting".

But the outrage seems to be subsiding and the indications are that the FBU and fire bosses could be about to reach an agreement.

This week FBU members presented alternatives to the brigade's plan of reducing crews from five to four in a bid to free up 32 firefighters for fire prevention work.

The details of these proposals have not been revealed, but the F BU and fire bosses have agreed to meet again in a bid to avoid industrial action.

Chief Fire Officer Peter Holland said: "This is clearly a positive development as we have maintained all along that we do not want our firefighters to strike and I believe our firefighters feel the same way.

"Over the next few weeks we will be meeting again with local FBU representatives and progressing this line of dialogue."

Lancashire FBU Secretary Steve Harman added: "During the discussions it became apparent that there are fresh areas that we do want to investigate further which could potentially avoid us starting a ballot for industrial action.

"We hope that the ongoing dialogue will be ultimately successful."