Employers have appealed for firefighters to join mediation talks planned for this week as union leaders in Scotland staged the first in a series of meetings to discuss the pay dispute.

Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), said on Sunday that modernisation of the fire service "in line with the Bain proposals" was a non-negotiable element of any pay deal.

"Even at this late stage I would hope that the FBU will sit down and talk with us sometime this week," he said.

Mr Watters is due to join other UK fire employers in London for crunch talks aimed at averting strikes planned for the next three weeks.

The series of talks begun on Sunday by fire union leaders follow the Fire Brigades Union's (FBU) decision to withdraw from negotiations aimed at resolving the ongoing pay dispute.

The union's UK leadership said on Friday that new strikes would go ahead after employers tabled what FBU chief Andy Gilchrist called an unacceptable offer.

Mr Gilchrist said a non-negotiable offer of 11% over two years, tied to modernisation, was put forward and was totally unacceptable.

THE NEW STRIKES

21 January: 24 hours 28 January: 48 hours 1 February: 48 hours

The Army's Green Goddesses now look set to return to the streets to provide emergency cover during a new series of strikes.

The FBU in Scotland is planning to hold meetings at stations across the country this week, ahead of the planned strikes.

The first was held in Dumfries on Sunday, while others were due to follow at Inverness and Aberdeen on Monday, in Dundee, Lochgelly and Stirling on Tuesday, and in Edinburgh and Glasgow on Wednesday.

Andy Gilchrist says the current offer is unacceptable

FBU regional chair Roddy Robertson said the union was reporting back from the preliminary talks with the industrial dispute arbitration body Acas.

He briefed around 60 firefighters and said afterwards: "The employers and the government may chose to pretend Bain is about modernisation but the truth is Bain is all about cuts in the service and we aren't going to accept that".

The employers have asked the FBU to attend talks on Tuesday, insisting that no offer has yet been made.

But the FBU remains unhappy about the government's aim of funding a modernisation programme based on Sir George Bain's report into the future of the fire service.

The FBU, which is seeking a 40% pay hike, has predicted 4,500 jobs will be lost if modernisation plans go ahead.

But ministers said they believe any reduction in staff levels can be met without compulsory redundancies.

They also backed local government employer calls urging the firefighters to attend more talks with Acas starting on Tuesday.