The Fire Brigades Union will enter talks on Wednesday afternoon, rather than stage a second eight-day strike, which had been due to start that day.

We've spent the last two weeks or so touring the picket lines and talking to our members, and they're still rock solid

Dave Patton, FBU

FBU spokesman Dave Patton denied the decision was a climbdown on the part of the union following an increasingly hard line from the government.

"I've read the press this morning, everything from 'weakness' to 'crumbling' to being 'outsmarted and wrongfooted by the government'," he told the BBC.

"The main thing is firefighters and control staff will be back at work this Wednesday for eight days, which allows us to explore every possibility with the employers."

He said the firefighters' resolve was as strong as ever - and had even been hardened by the government's attitude and hints of job cuts.

"We've spent the last two weeks or so touring the picket lines and talking to our members, and they're still rock solid."

'Way out'

John Monks of the Trades Union Congress said the decision to call off the strike and head to talks had been a sensible way to stop the dispute getting out of hand.

"From my perspective, I could see that the dispute was getting too political," he said.

The dispute was getting too political

John Monks, TUC

"It was too much in the headlines, there was more going on in the television studio than going on at the negotiating table, and it was time to draw back from that and actually take a cool, quiet look at the issues."

Fire authority employers welcomed the Acas involvement as a "breathing space" to potentially solve "a very difficult situation".

They said there must be significant modernisation of the fire service, and warned there was no new money on the table, but said they were nonetheless feeling "positive".

Spokesman Nick Ransford told the BBC: "It's going to take a bit of time but there are many things we can talk to the FBU about in terms of changing the service."

Troops praised

The local authority employer is also expected to talk to Acas officials within the next few days, with the possibility that negotiations between the two sides could resume by the end of the week.

There is still a huge gap between the union's 40% pay demand and the government's stance that any increase over 4%, which can be covered by the employers, must be funded by modernisation changes.

The union warned that another eight-day strike from 16 December to Christmas Eve could still go ahead.

On Monday the government praised the work of the armed forces who provided fire cover during the last eight-day strike.

It said there had been "little disruption" to UK life, and proved that many of the proposed fire service reforms could be carried out safely.