PUBLIC sympathy for the firefighters' strike is slipping according to a Daily Echo poll that reveals 60 per cent of people oppose it.

But firemen manning the picket lines are claiming that despite the findings they have been overwhelmed by a public show of solidarity.

In a straw poll of 200 local people, 117 said they do not support the strikes.

However, it's a very different story on the front line pickets where wind and rain-lashed strikers are reporting amazing encouragement.

The evidence at stations around the county is that the public has inundated them with gifts of takeaway food, cakes, boxes of biscuits and cash donations.

Wayne Parsons, Fire Brigades Union pay co-ordinator for Eastleigh, told the Daily Echo that even if they completely lose the public's backing, they will carry on.

He said: "If we lose public support we will continue regardless because we are out here fighting for their safety as much as for ourselves.

"But the support we are getting face to face doesn't reflect what we are hearing in the media. There are one or two driving past with their thumbs down but the vast majority are supporting us at this moment in time.

"I saw a lady who lived opposite a fire station who didn't sleep a wink because she was scared. But she brought across coffee and tea for the firefighters and told them to keep going - it was so moving.

"Public support means a great deal to us. The last thing we want to do is to lose public support for the service. We are very proud of the service we represent and work for and we don't want its reputation to suffer because of this."

Opinion was divided in Eastleigh.

IT consultant Roger Morgan, 49, said: "They are acting completely irresponsibly and if there's a death they will have blood on their hands. Forty per cent is ludicrous, we all know that. They should sit down and negotiate rather than strike at the drop of a hat."

Shop worker Tanya Wallis, 35, said: "My dad was a fireman and he refused to strike 25-years ago but I support the strike. They have a dangerous job and put themselves at risk, not just at incidents but by breathing in smoke throughout their careers."

Meanwhile, Home Office minister Lord Falconer raised the stakes in the dispute by confirming that the government was prepared to order troops to cross picket lines to use the red fire engines if the union moves to eight-day strikes.

Lord Falconer said: "If public safety ultimately requires that the Army cross picket lines to get the red fire engines, then that is what will have to be done because ultimately public safety has got to come before picket lines."

The strike will end at 6pm today but the first of the eight-day walkouts will begin on November 22.

Firefighters strike Day 2: 'We're not giving in, Prescott!' - See page 6 of today's Daily Echo.