FIREFIGHTERS are refusing to take part in terror drills as part of their ongoing dispute with ministers over pensions and the retirement age.

Fire chiefs initiated a programme of rehearsals for terrorist incidents following the massacres at the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris earlier this month.

But the Fire Brigades Union “strongly advised” its members not to take part because of a work to rule over reckless government attacks on their pensions.

Special units of firefighters have been issued with bullet proof vests and other proctective equipment and given training to deal with gangs of “marauding” gunmen with automatic weapons.

In a letter, FBU assistant general secretary Paul Dark said members should not take part until safety had been assured and there had been “appropriate payments for the increased activity and potential risk.”

Controversial Fire Minister Penny Mordaunt (right) attacked the union for its stance.

“This particular aspect of the FBU’s industrial action has the potential to damage the world-class reputation of the fire and rescue service in ensuring our national resilience,” she told the right-wing Telegraph.

“The impact of this dispute has not been significant so far but preventing firefighters from training for such terrible events does them a great disservice and creates an unnecessary risk to public safety.”

An FBU spokesman said the union was “in talks with management about the issue.”