London's Mayor Ken Livingstone has warned that a firefighters' strike will put people's lives at risk.

He said he would be shocked if people did not choke or burn to death during the dispute.

He was speaking after an emergency meeting of the board of Transport for London (TfL) to discuss contingency plans for the strike.

Mr Livingstone said the capital's road tunnels would be kept open during the strike, but restrictions would be put on the number of cars using the Blackwall Tunnel at peak times.

Tunnel fires

The first 48-hour walkout by firefighters starts at 0900 GMT on 29 October.

There will be 90 army Green Goddess fire engines available for the capital based at 28 sites.

Stations closed on strike days

Belsize Park Borough Caledonian Road Covent Garden Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) Elephant & Castle Gloucester Road Goodge Street Hampstead Holland Park Kennington Lambeth North Lancaster Gate Mornington Crescent Queensway Regent's Park Russell Square Tufnell Park Wapping

There will also be 20 rescue trucks carrying breathing apparatus and 400 police officers standing by as escorts through the busy streets.

But Mr Livingstone said that lives were at stake.

"I will be very surprised if we get through this without some Londoners having been choked to death or burned to death."

TfL had been particularly concerned about the effects of the strike on London's road tunnels.

It decided they will open as normal with the exception of the Blackwall Tunnel.

The crossing under the River Thames in east London carries 50,000 vehicles a day.

A European-wide survey earlier this year criticised the tunnel's lack of separate access for emergency vehicles and the narrow lanes.

Concern was heightened after the deaths of 11 people in the fire at Mont Blanc.

In all there were eight tunnel fires across Europe last year including one at Blackwall.

Tube closures

But Martin Shipp of Fire Risk Sciences in Watford, told BBC London: "I think fire safety is very much on the agenda of all the tunnel operators.

"They have emergency plans in place, they do regular training, both with their own staff and with the Fire Brigade to try and minimise the risks."

London Underground says it will have to close 19 of the Tube's deepest stations on strike days because they are only served by lifts.

But the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and Aslef said on Wednesday they would not be balloting for industrial action over safety.

They repeated that they would back the right of any worker who is concerned about their own or passengers' safety not to come to work.

Mr Livingstone has already said he backed the right of individual rail and tube workers to walk out on safety grounds.

Mainline stations and services should not be affected by the firefighters' industrial action.