Two of Wales' political leaders have urged firefighters to sit at the negotiating table - instead of embarking on a series of "worrying" strikes.

Full-time crews are planning the first of several walkouts on 29 October after calling for a 40% pay rise, leaving the military providing a dramatically reduced service.

But Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy said he was "gravely concerned" and called on the Fire Brigades Union to instead contribute to an ongoing UK Government pay review.

Fire Brigades Union - strike dates

29- 31 October 2-4 November 6 November -14 November 22-30 November 4-12 December 16-24 December Covered by Army, Royal Navy and RAF All start and end at 0900 GMT

Jeff Jones of the Welsh Local Government Association umbrella group suggested strikes would leave citizens' lives at risk - with an average of two crews per county.

Their call came as the government's Cobra crisis committee met to discuss contingency plans in a bunker under Downing Street. Mr Murphy is a member.

During strikes, Army and Royal Navy and RAF personnel will man 40 'Green Goddess' vehicles covering Wales - slower and less well-equipped than conventional fire engines.

'Very worrying'

Mr Jones - leader of Bridgend County Borough Council - said his local authority would have just two vehicles to cover the county.

"It's going to be very difficult indeed ... and very worrying for all of us," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"We have three valley communities to the north and the M4 running through the county borough.

"If [Green Goddesses] are involved in an incident somewhere in the valleys, they can't go anywhere else."

Review plea

He turned his fire on FBU members - who voted nine to one for their first strike in 25 years in their quest for a �30,000 salary - and said industrial action would risk lives.

Local authority employers had offered 10 times less - a 4% increase as part of an interim deal.

A government review to find with proposals for improving the pay and conditions of firefighters - headed by the Low Pay Commission's chief - will not be complete until December.

Firefighters are eyeing a 40% pay rise

"They have achieved what most trade unionists would expect to achieve at the end of a dispute - an independent inquiry," Mr Jones added.

"[We] have decided to abide by whatever that inquiry comes up with.

"I cannot understand what they are frightened of. The 40% pay claim cannot be met. Any responsible trade unionist would wait to see what the inquiry says before taking action.

"In south Wales, there is no shortage of people wanting to become firemen - the real crisis in local government is in social services."

Crisis cabinet

The Welsh Secretary took a similarly hard-line approach, worrying about the "matter of grave concern" - hours before entering discussions with ministers.

His Cobra committee also met at the foot-and-mouth and fuel crises of 2001.

"None of this would be necessary if there wasn't a strike," he said.

"People can put all their points of view on the [committee] table and talk through the issues.

"I urge the FBU to sit down with the review and avoid this damaging strike. There really is no need for a strike when the review is ongoing."