FIRE engines have been out of action in Redbridge on at least four occasions during the past week after an industrial dispute left the borough without enough senior staff to run them.

The Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) has accused London Fire Brigade (LFB) of putting residents' lives at risk after Woodford and Hainault fire stations were both left with machines 'off the run' during certain watches because of a lack of qualified crew managers on duty.

The worrying situation has been caused by ordinary fire-fighters at the two bases refusing to 'act up' to perform the role of senior officers because of a dispute between the FBU and the LDF over working conditions.

This has regularly left the borough without one of its four machines active since industrial action began on August 13, and a team from Ilford has had to provide temporary cover whenever needed.

Union representative Ian Leahair, placed the blame solely with the LFB.

He said: "People's lives are being put at risk, but it is London Fire Brigade that has to take full responsibility for this.

"What is happening is that our members are having their conditions of work steadily eroded, and they have had enough of it.

"For that reason they have decided to work 'normally' by only working their contracted hours and roles rather than acting up out of good will, which is what London Fire Brigade relies on them doing.

"This means that there have been times at Woodford and Hainault where no qualified officer has been available so that the engine can go out."

These views were echoed by a local fire-fighter who contacted the Guardian to air his concerns.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said: "Fire-fighters who act up have a lot of responsibility but get paid a pittance for doing it.

"They (LBF) rely on our good will to keep things going, and the problems that have happened since we took industrial action show how much extra work we do."

An LBF spokesman said: "It is not unusual for staff and appliances to be temporarily unavailable for operational duty.

"This may be for a variety of reasons, including protracted attendance at another incident, training, community safety work, sickness or mechanical failure of an appliance.

"A fire appliance based at Woodford Fire Station has been temporarily unavailable for operational service on occasions due to industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union.

"The unavailable appliance is one of the brigade’s total fleet of 168 pumping appliances.

"The London Fire Brigade plans its fire cover strategically to meet the needs of London as a whole.

"If for any reason staff or appliances in a particular area are unavailable it is common practice to reallocate resources from other stations to make sure we have an optimum distribution across the capital.”