Firefighters will begin strike action on Wednesday throughout the UK.

However, many rural areas will be covered a dedicated team of retained firefighters.

Members of the Retained Firefighters Union (RFU) - covering mainly rural and small-town fire stations - will not be taking industrial action.

Retained firefighters are part-time firefighters - workers with other jobs - who are paid a �13.93 call-out fee and �6.20 an hour to respond to fires and other emergencies from their homes or places of work.

We feel we would be letting the community down

Ken Powell, RFU representative

Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire relies on retained firefighters for their emergency cover.

Ken Powell is the RFU representative for the county and he says there are only four fire stations in the whole of Gloucestershire staffed by full-time firefighters.

The rest of the county largely relies on retained firefighters, who have to live only minutes away from their station.

Mr Powell says they are part of the community and provide a service.

"Everybody knows I'm a firefighter and I have been for years.

"Everybody from Stow-on-the-Wold knows me. If I went on strike and, God forbid, something happened, how could I face those people if I go for a pint or walk up the street?

Local job

"It's a moral issue for me as much as anything else.

"We feel we would be letting the community down."

Mr Powell, who works for a local bus company, said his commitments to the fire station take up much of his time - but it is obviously a job he relishes.

"We have to work within the community and have to support the community and rely on the community to help us," he said.

Gloucestershire County Council - the county's Fire Authority - has set up a Fire Safety adviceline for strike days.

Retained firefighters

There are 18,000 retained firefighters They crew 1,100 fire stations They have to live four minutes from their stations Retained firefighters are paid �6.20 an hour Annual pay averages about �4,500 a year

There are 20 fire stations in the county and the four largest - in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Cirencester and Stroud - will not operate during the industrial action.

Other stations are staffed by retained firefighters and the county council said it hoped the majority will remain on standby.

All 999 fire service calls will be handled by a communication centre in police headquarters in Cheltenham.

County councillor Jeremy Hilton said: "We are still hopeful that the majority of our retained stations will work through the strike but every resident and business must be extra cautious and work to prevent fire and minimise the risk of road accidents."

Normal response

But for Ken Powell, life will continue much as normal throughout the 48-hour strike period.

"We will work in our own community," Mr Powell said.

"Most of the area will be the same as ever.

"Some stations have personnel in the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) so they will probably be supporting the FBU and not attending incidents.

"As far as I'm aware most stations are to cover their area.

"We will be responding as normal."

The Gloucestershire County Council advice line will open at 0900 and close at 1700 GMT on every weekday affected by industrial action. The number is 01452 427777