On Sunday afternoon, I was the first person to stop at a car accident on the A27.

The scene was not pleasant and the car was in a very damaged state, having careered off the road, ending up on its roof perched on top of a rainwater culvert wall - a really difficult situation for the emergency crews to deal with, both from a practical point and from a medical care point.

The first to respond to my 999 call was a police officer, who, after viewing the scene, commented that only the reserve fire crews were available.

It was clear to both of us from the position and state of the vehicle they would not have the expertise to best retrieve the driver from the tangled mess.

Within a short space of time, guess what? Those striking firemen who aren't worth a reasonable wage had broken the picket lines and were in full attendance.

I was in the way by this time so left the experts to deal with a tricky and life-saving task.

My point is this: Without these men and their flying red machines with all their equipment and expertise to use it to its best advantage, the victim of this crash would have had very little chance of survival.

This contrasts sharply with the inflated expenses of politicians. If they stopped squandering our money, the emergency services might be able to receive a fairer wage and have no need for the strike action forced upon them.

I sincerely hope the driver was rescued successfully and makes a full recovery.

To the young man who came back and helped, my thanks, and to those who ignored our efforts to flag down other motorists, I just hope you or your loved ones never need unexpected help because if most of the driving population are like you their chances of assistance are slim.

-John Mortby, Hophurst Drive, Crawley Down