Fire crews rarely get to sleep

As someone who has a "cushy and well paid job in the fire service" albeit in the control room and not as a firefighter, I wish to set Mr Johnston straight on a few of his points regarding the operational firefighters.Yes, they are permitted to sleep when on night duty, but I know for a fact- being the one who answers the emergency calls all night - that a good night's sleep is not exactly a regular occurrence for them.

They are usually alerted and respond to incidents at the very least three or four times per night, often a lot more.

A lot of the incidents are grass and rubbish fires, lit by bored teenagers with nothing better to do than waste valuable resources - to which I must add that the fire service budget is about one tenth that of the police force, of which Mr Johnston seems to have a much higher opinion.

The fire service provides an outstanding service, especially with its relatively small budget when compared with the police and ambulance service, as many people who have experienced dealing with them first hand can testify.

The response time is usually less than a minute for the crews to be out of the door and on the way to the incident, the same at night as in the daytime, proving that being allowed to sleep on duty has no bearing on the quality of service provided by the firefighters.

Laura Hudson, Shrewsbury