Tyne Tees Fire Service

Gordon Chalk Sunderland Representative for the Fire Brigades' Union has said he is delighted by today's decision to keep three Tyne & Wear fire stations open.

Today, February 16, Tyne and Wear fire authority reversed its decision to close Wallsend, Gosforth and Sunderland - after receiving a petition signed by 30,000 people in Sunderland.

• Read more: Petition signed by 30,000 helps three fire stations stay open

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue say they will not close any fire stations.

There were plans to close Wallsend, Gosforth and Sunderland stations because of government cuts.

Protestors will take to the city streets on today, February 7, to challenge the closure of Sunderland Central fire station.

Tyne and Wear is to lose a total of three fire stations, Sunderland Central, Gosforth and Wallsend - unless the fire authority reverse their decisions.

Demonstrators will march to Market Square from Sunderland Central fire station to draw attention to the fire authority's decisions.

Russ King, the FBU secretary for the Tyne and Wear brigade says the "drastic and unprecedented" proposals are a "genuine threat to public safety".

The Tyne and Wear Fire Authority did not want to comment on the rally.

Firefighters across the region will remain out on strike for another two and a half hours this morning.

They walked out 9am yesterday and will return to work today at 9am.

This is the 48th round of industrial action in a continuing dispute with the government over pension reforms.

Firefighters in the North East are on strike again today in the latest round of industrial action in a long-running row with the government over pensions.

It's the 48th time members of the Fire Brigades Union will walk out since the dispute flared last year.

The 24-hour strike starts at 9am.

The union said that after three years of discussions, firefighters still faced a "stark" choice of being sacked or having their pension severely reduced.

Fire crews are to strike again next week as part of their ongoing dispute against changes to their salary and pension schemes.

The Fire Brigade Union has confirmed crews will walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday 9th December.

Last month we told you that five million pounds worth of cuts were approved that would see the closure of Sunderland Central, Wallsend and Gosforth fire stations.

Today, though, the Tyne and Wear Fire Authority says it now may be able to avoid the closures - at least in the short term.

But, the Fire Brigades Union have not greeted the news with enthusiasm.

They say that all the Fire Authority has done is create confusion and uncertainty.

Julie Harrison reports.

Fire crews from across our region are helping those affected by flooding in the South of England.

Water pumps, Rescue Boats and a number of firefighters and welfare officers are all assisting the clean up operation.

The North East's only hydro-carbon detection dog has been put through his paces against the latest technology.

Scrappy has been helping gather evidence at suspicion fires for five months by sniffing out flammable liquids.

He wears a harness and special boots, donated by a North East company, to protect his paws.

Teesside University are comparing the cocker spaniel's skills to devices used by the fire service to detect hydro-carbons like petrol which may have been used to start fires.

So far, they have found that the machine can't trace chemicals after 8-10 days whereas Scrappy has no trouble at all finding the scent.