Essex firefighters announced yesterday that they would stage three days of strike action in a row over jobs.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members will walk out for part of their shift next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in protest at plans to cut jobs.

The union said the county brigade was planning to cut up to 200 jobs, mainly at frontline stations.

“We are facing cuts of an unprecedented scale, resulting in more than a quarter of all front-line firefighter jobs being cut,” said FBU Essex brigade secretary Alan Chinn-Shaw.

“The fire service is facing a reduced budget. However, we believe there are alternatives to making such huge cuts to front-line 999 services.”

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it would have “strong resilience arrangements” to ensure fire cover during the strikes.