A Scottish union official has warned that the prime minister will have "blood on his hands" if anyone dies as a result of the fire strike.

John McDonald, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) executive council member for Scotland, accused the government of trying to brand the union as a "modern-day equivalent" of the National Union of Miners.

He was speaking as Scotland's senior legal officer, the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, promised to fast-track the prosecution of people making hoax calls to the fire service.

The move came after hundreds of malicious calls were made during the first hours of the strike by firefighters in Scotland.

Strike dates

13-15 November Starts and ends at 1800 GMT 22-30 November Starts/ends 0900 4-12 December Starts/ends 0900 16-24 December Starts/ ends 0900

One man has appeared in court already, where he admitted making three malicious calls minutes after the strike began on Wednesday evening.

The district court in Perth heard that James Hoy, 51, from Blairgowrie, made the calls to register his disgust at the walkout. Sentence was deferred for four weeks.

Mr McDonald, talking after a meeting in Edinburgh with FBU leader Andy Gilchrist, said: "Firefighters are humanitarians, they do not want to take strike action.

"But this government has made inadequate fire cover with the army. They know they can't cope and they know they are putting people's lives at risk.

'Paltry' rise

"That's their decision but any deaths within this dispute, I will blame on Mr Blair.

"He will have blood on his hands because he is putting the public at risk for a paltry pay increase for firefighters."

In Strathclyde, there were 310 emergency calls in the 10 hours after the stoppage began at 1800 GMT. Only 68 were genuine.

Ministers have been discussing the strike

Glasgow Anniesland MP John Robertson, speaking in the Commons, denounced as "scum" those who created malicious false alarms.

He said he was "ashamed and disgusted" of the level of malicious calls in Strathclyde.

Strathclyde Police Superintendent Iain Gordon said: "For every hoax call that is made the potential exists for lives to be put at risk. I find that irresponsible and unforgivable.

"We do view this very seriously indeed, and at a time like this it is even more so. We'll make every effort to trace these calls and trace the individuals who are making these calls."

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, the Lord Advocate condemned the hoax callers.

He said: "Whatever our views are on the dispute itself, hoax calls put lives in danger.

"I want to take this opportunity to make it clear that all such cases will be dealt with with the utmost seriousness and with priority.

Colin Boyd: "Lives in danger"

"I will be issuing instructions to the police and procurator fiscal as to how these reports should be dealt with and the priority that they should be given."

Other police forces around Scotland reported that they had received hoax calls, but not on the scale of Strathclyde.

In the Highlands, there were three calls, all of which were genuine. Grampian received a total of 16 calls, five of which were hoaxes.

Tayside had 22 calls, 13 of which were hoaxes. Fife had 16 calls, seven of which were hoaxes. There were a total of 17 calls in the Central region. Seven were hoaxes.

Employers' meeting

In Lothian and Borders, there were 71 calls, five of which were malicious.

In Dumfries and Galloway, a total of six calls were received. Four were from hoaxers.

The First Minister, Jack McConnell, and his deputy, Jim Wallace, met the firefighters' employers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to discuss the position on Thursday.

The 48-hour strike began after pay talks between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the UK Government broke down.

The union, which is demanding a 40% pay rise, rejected a 11% offer recommended by an independent review.