Firefighters took to picket lines across England and Wales to get cuts-mad ministers to scrap plans to make them work until they drop.

Proud emergency workers stationed a few hundred metres away from the Labour conference in Brighton were boosted by fellow trade unionists who turned up to back the four-hour strike.

Fire authority bosses sparked anger in Tory Surrey by locking out firefighters who turned up to work the rest of the shift, drafting in scabs and docking a full day's pay.