HAMPSHIRE firefighter Chris Pain was one of the county's only full-time serving members not to walk out on strike last night - but he wanted nothing more than to be a part of it.

It's the second time he has been caught up in industrial action with the fire service, having signed up as a firefighter just months before the 1977 strike.

Last night the station he has worked at for 25 years lay silent as his colleagues congregated around a burning fire outside, holding placards as they manned their picket lines.

But Chris was inside, with the full support of his workmates, because in 48 days' time he will retire and if he was to down tools he is likely to lose a hefty part of his pension.

Chris, 55, who previously worked as a bricklayer for 13 years, said: "I am very sad not to be with my colleagues outside.

"The fire service is all about working as a team, we do everything as a crew. But tonight they are outside and I am in here.

"I don't want to jeopardise my pension and that will happen if I walk out.

"But I back them as I know we are worth £30,000 a year.

"The union has told me to stay in and my workmates are all very supportive. They are great guys, the best you could ever meet. I can trust any one of them to keep me safe and that's what it's all about."

Chris joined Hampshire Fire Service in January 1977. After two months training, he spent a short time at Woolston before moving to his home town of Fareham where he has stayed ever since.

"It was bad then and came as a surprise because I had just started out,'' he said.

"However, this is really disappointing. It just shows that the industry has got nowhere in terms of better pay arrangements.''

On New Year's Eve he will retire from the job he loves and focus on spending some quality time with his family at his new home on the Isle of Wight.

The scene outside Fareham's West Street station, and the mass strength of public support, was similar to all others across the county.

All three of Southampton's stations - Redbridge, Hightown and St Mary's - had large crowds, supported by wives and children of the strikers.

Minutes before the walkout, St Mary's three fire engines were called out to Orchard Road in Northam, which proved to be a false alarm.

The crews returned to the station minutes later to join their colleagues who were listening to a speech from their union branch representative, Peter Bates.

Watched by onlookers and drivers who stopped to toot their horns in support, he said: "This evening we have embarked on the second strike in the history of the fire service. We get the praise, we get the pats on the back and that's great - but that doesn't pay our mortgages.

"Our unity is our strength. We walked out together, we have to stay together."

The scenario was similar at Redbridge, where members of all watches were present for the walkout.

And at Hightown, in Thornhill, firefighters thronged around a burning fire to keep warm. They also perched on a bench, sheltering under umbrellas from the rain and even a garden shed - donated by the Red Cross for the duration of the strike - was brought on to the forecourt.

At Fire Service Headquarters in Eastleigh, control room staff who would normally be manning the phones to receive 999 calls, were huddled together alongside their firefighter colleagues.

On each night shift in the county, which lasts 14-and-a-half hours, they usually handle between 70 and 120 calls.

One member of staff said: "I don't know if the temporary control room at Netley will be able to cope with it, not with the set up and equipment that they have. We don't want to be here but we feel like we have been forced into a corner. Now we need to focus on giving each other support."

At the town's station on Leigh Road there was an 80 per cent turnout of striking staff.

Firefighter John Jowitt said: "We feel a bit better now, but coming out at 6pm was very depressing and disheartening."

In Winchester, where the station is crewed by day and has a retained section at night, all full-time firefighters were outside and the building was in darkness and firmly marked 'closed'.

Wearing their uniform peaked hats to try and shelter from pouring rain both male and female staff tucked into free pizza from a local firm, as well as mince pies and sweets donated by members of the public.