Firefighters revealed yesterday that Tory minister Penny Mordaunt has signalled a two-month delay to the introduction of bitterly opposed pension changes.

The Fire Brigades Union executive met earlier this week to consider the next stage of the long-running battle against swingeing cuts to retirement rights.

General secretary Matt Wrack revealed yesterday that while talks continued the official implementation date had been put back to October 13.

He added that some areas raised by Ms Mordaunt that had the potential for “significant progress” were being looked at by the union’s expert advisers.

“Many of these issues are complex and specialist advice is necessary to ensure the rights of our members are properly considered,” he said.

The possible shift by the government follows days of strike action by firefighters furious at plans to increase pension contributions and raise their retirement age to 60 — far beyond the point when safe fitness levels can be maintained.

A firefighter forced out before that age would see their payouts cut in half.