FIREFIGHTERS across Hampshire took to the picket lines last night as the country's first fire service strike for 25 years got under way.

Three people died in fires across the country as over-stretched controls were plagued with scores of hoax calls and arson attacks.

In Hampshire Green Goddesses staffed by Royal Navy personnel were called out to eight incidents overnight although none of them were serious.

And within the first hour of the strike the operations headquarters in Netley had dealt with four calls from mindless hoaxers.

Across the country three people died in fires over night. The first happened when a 76-year-old died at her home in Newtown, mid-Wales.

An elderly man in Burnley, Lancashire, became the second person to die since the 48-hour strike over pay began, and early today a third person perished during a blaze at a house in Halesowen in the West Midlands.

Firefighters went on strike from 6pm last night after rejecting a government offer of an 11 per cent pay rise over two years.

AS HUNDREDS of Hampshire firefighters walked out last night, weeks of emergency planning swung into action.

At police headquarters in Netley, around a dozen staff waited for the first 999 fire call to the makeshift control room.

Police operators sat side by side with colleagues from the Royal Navy and Hampshire fire service ready to send Green Goddess crews into action.

The teams decide whether to send out a Green Goddess - or to deploy police officers to check the seriousness of a fire call.

Senior fire officers will be on duty to advise the Navy and police on how to best make use of the limited resources.

Navy Commander Mark Durkin, normally found on Type-42 Destroyer HMS Exeter, said: "We have been working long and hard towards this day and we are fairly upbeat.

"Clearly it will be a challenge to what we are normally faced with.

"We are fairly confident we can deal with things, we have prepared ourselves well. I am sure we can provide emergency cover."

Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Alan House, said the set-up-followed weeks of planning.

"You can't compare this to the control room at our Eastleigh HQ. The most important thing is for people to, as they normally would, ring 999 in case of a fire."

Ian Readhead, Deputy Chief Constable at Hampshire police, revealed that police officers would check out fire calls themselves if advised by brigade bosses at the control room.