GWENT firefighters have vowed to leave their picket lines and attend calls where lives are at risk during any future strikes.

That vow was made despite a warning that they may not be covered by insurance. As the 24-hour strike drew to a close today, Stuart Bruton, a firefighter and Fire Brigade Union representative at the Cwmbran station, said he believes the strike would last months - and that neither side was showing any signs of backing down.

Mr Bruton said it would be down to individuals whether they decided to answer emergency calls during a strike but the stance at Cwmbran mirrored those in Cefn Fforest and New Inn.

Firefighter John Evans said: "It is the community that needs us and it is they who we will turn out for.

"If someone came to the station desperate for our help then we would help them." Leading Firefighter Roy Long, at New Inn, said: "In the event of lives being at risk then we would attend."

It was not a view shared by firefighters in Mid and West Wales, who adopted a more militant stance when firefighters abandoned picket lines last night, leaving the armed forces to cover all emergencies.

Tom Forbes, a sub-officer at the Cefn Fforest station, said: "The public have been tremendous to us, beeping their horns in support and dropping off food parcels as well as donating money."

This public support was echoed at the New Inn station after a local man, whose name was unknown to the crews, dropped off shopping bags full of bacon, eggs, rolls and loaves of bread.

Leading Firefighter Long said: "Public support is definitely not waning. "They support us because we are always there for them."

Pat McGrail, 60, who lives next-door to the New Inn station on New Road, said: "I fully support them. I have lived here for 36 years and believe me they're a great bunch of boys and they deserve every penny they get."

It was a fairly quiet 24 hours across Gwent last night for military crews on standby. RAF personnel were called to a blaze in an Abertillery flat at 8.30pm yesterday . A Green Goddess from the town and a Breathing Apparatus Rescue Team (BART) from Merthyr Tydfil attended the Lawrence Avenue fire.

No-one was injured and the fire was quickly put out. Troops also attended a call at 10.27pm to rescue a trapped motorist who had left the road and gone down an embankment in Llanhilleth, near the Llanhilleth Hotel. The man managed to free himself from the car before they arrived.

Employers were due to consider an offer by the FBU for fresh talks after today's strike ended at 9am.

Further 48-hour stoppages are still planned for January 28 and February 1.

PICTURED: Firefighters at Cwmbran fire station wave their appreciation of support from passing motorists.