Firefighters have started their second day of strike action in response to an ongoing row with the government over pensions. 

Members of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) began eight consecutive days of strike action on Monday and will be out of action today from 6am to 8am and 5pm to 7pm. 

Matt Wrack general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “Despite arguing the government cannot afford to improve their offer, the minister (Brandon Lewis) seems more than happy to receive a pension that is far better than firefighters.

"After three years of failure to answer our arguments, the government must now admit the damage their attacks would do to our members’ lives — and the fire and rescue service itself — and work with us to find a negotiated solution."

In a letter written to Mr Wrack on Friday, Mr Lewis told the general secretary he would be happy to reconvene discussions if the strike was called off and reinstated the government's pensions offer made in June. 

During yesterday evening's strike action, Essex Fire Service attended seven incidents including car fires, a grass fire and two false alarms.