I am in full agreement with firefighter Mark Hodiak (Letters, October 23), who says the Government is showing the utmost hypocrisy in awarding its members massive pay rises while pounding public-sector pay.

Firefighters do a unique job and for that they should be rewarded - not £30,000 but £40,000 or £50,000. Would you risk your life for £21,500 a year?

Why do they not even get the same as the police, £31,000?

This is a £10,000 difference. For all of those who disagree, have you ever been trapped upside down in a car, freezing, terrified and soaked in petrol, or trapped in a building, choking and burning?

Until then, I don't think you will have the slightest idea of what a firefighter has to endure on an almost daily basis.

Good luck, firefighters, you all fully deserve at least a minimum £30,000. For those of you who disagree, I am quite ashamed.

-M Rogers, Eastern Road, Brighton