Firefighters went on strike over pay and conditions

The Scottish secretary of the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU), Kenny Ross, warned that members would feel "betrayed" by some of the Scottish Executive's plans.

He said firefighters were concerned by several of the recommendations proposed by Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson.

She said the move was designed to modernise the service and improve its overall efficiency.

A lot of firefighters will be looking at this and feeling betrayed Kenny Ross, FBU Scotland

Launching the Fire Services Bill last month, Ms Jamieson said she hoped it would draw a line under the recent firefighters' pay dispute.

She said it could modernise the service and give it a statutory role in dealing with fires, road accidents, chemical spillages and rescues.

But Mr Ross said the reforms would remove the statutory minimum number of appliances attending incidents and scrap the maximum arrival time of five minutes.

He said: "Our members took a leap of faith when we agreed to the settlement and left a lot of detail to be agreed.

'Feeling betrayed'

"Our members trusted the executive and the UK Government and the fire authorities to deliver what they promised.

"What's happening here is that they've made their minds up anyway, so a lot of firefighters will be looking at this and feeling betrayed."

He said it was "too early" to start talking about strike action.

"I would like to think we could change this and make it more positive without going down that road."

We are determined to bring forward a bill that will enable the service to modernise Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry

An executive spokesman said everyone would want to avoid strike action.

He said: "The proposals will be for consultation, so obviously we would expect any concerns to be raised as part of that process and certainly we would be considering them carefully."

Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry said: "I am disappointed in the tone of today's comments from the FBU, which are somewhat at odds with their reaction two weeks ago when Cathy Jamieson met them to discuss this paper.

"Then they talked of an 'informative and honest exchange of views' in a national news release."

He said a "smarter" fire service was needed to meet modern-day demands.

Cathy Jamieson defended the planned reforms

"We are determined to bring forward a bill that will enable the service to modernise.

"The FBU have a big part to play in that.

"Change is difficult, change is needed and change we must to ensure we have a safer Scotland and a fire service that protects public safety."

The proposed legislation would replace The Fire Service Act 1947.

Scottish National Party justice spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon said the executive appeared "hell-bent" on implementing reforms which have damaged its relationship with the fire service.

The long-running fire dispute ended in June with agreement on a 16% pay increase.