Firefighters were called to five incidents in Huntingdonshire during the bank holiday strike action.

Between 10am and 3pm yesterday (Sunday), they received two 999 calls. At 10.09am, a crew attended a car fire on the A1198 at Papworth. On arrival, it was found to be a false alarm.

At 12.14pm, firefighters put out a car fire on the A14 between junction 17 for Leighton Bromsworld and junction 16 for Catworth. Two crews extinguished the flames using a hose reel. The cause of the fire was accidental.

During this period, seven 999 calls were received across the county.

At 10.27pm on Saturday, as part of the strike from 2pm on Saturday until 2am on Sunday, a crew was called following the activation of an automatic fire alarm at a property in Williams Close, Brampton. On arrival, it was found to be a false alarm. In total, 10 999 calls were received across the county.

On Friday between midday and 5pm, two calls were received but no firefighting took place. At 1.40pm a crew responded to reports of a fire in the open in Barford Road, Eynesbury. This was a false alarm.

At 2.24pm a crew were called to an automatic fire alarm at Priory Junior School on Longsands Road, St Neots, which was found to be a false alarm. In total, seven 999 calls were received, all of which did not require firefighting.

Chris Strickland, deputy chief fire officer at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This latest series of strikes have severely disrupted our day-to-day services and have tested our resilience plans. Thanks must go to all those members of staff that worked over the weekend to crew the fire engines allowing us to fulfil our legal duty to provide a fire and rescue service to the residents of Cambridgeshire.

“Our firefighters took a difficult decision to participate in the industrial action. They showed great professionalism when handing over the fire engines to resilience crews to allow them to provide a service to the community during the strikes.

“Our thanks also goes out to residents for taking extra care and putting safety at the forefront of their minds during the bank holiday weekend.”

INFORMATION: For further information on the strike and further safety advice, log onto www.cambsfire.gov.uk or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.