A senior fire chief has backed firefighters' demands for higher pay but warned that strike action would be too dangerous.

The Fire Brigades Union is balloting members on industrial action, after its bid for a 40 per cent pay rise was rejected.

Des Prichard, chief fire officer for East Sussex, believes they have a strong case.

However, he said people's lives would be put at risk if crews did strike.

He said: "I have enormous sympathy for firefighters. They are significantly under-paid. Over recent years they have fallen way behind comparative jobs like police officers."

A fully-trained firefighter earns £21,500 a year, which the union wants raised to £30,000.

Staff at six of the 24 fire stations in East Sussex - Crowborough, Bexhill, Battle, Lewes, Newhaven and Uckfield - must live within two miles of their working base.

But Mr Prichard said: "It's almost impossible for someone on £21,500 to find somewhere to live in Lewes or Crowborough."

However, he urged his crews to step back from the brink of industrial action.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the union's pay claim, to report later this year.

Mr Prichard said: "The union has decided not to take part in that review. But I think having an input is the only way to succeed."

He is currently drawing up contingency plans which would see Army officers cover for striking firefighters.

He admitted: "Undoubtedly communities will be at a much greater risk if the military are here rather than a full-time service."

Sussex ambulance crews will be balloted on possible strike action in the next few weeks after a pay offer of 3.6 per cent was rejected. Unison representatives are calling for a five per cent rise instead.