TAXPAYERS have had to fork out £166,000 for the fire service strikes that have hit Worcestershire, it has emerged.

It can be revealed that on average just 26 of the 43 fire engines have been in operation during the damaging walk-outs.

The hefty costs and scale of the ongoing dispute were revealed during a Worcestershire County Council meeting last week, during which chief fire officer Mark Yates presented a yearly report on the state of play.

During the debate Councillor Bob Banks, a veteran Tory, sparked outrage by saying the striking fire fighters were putting "women and children in peril".

Since September last year there have been 46 different strikes, the last one of which lasted four days just before bonfire night.

Councillor Derek Prodger, the fire authority chairman, was also asked to condemn the strikers but refused.

Coun Banks, speaking during a full council meeting, said: "The fire brigade does an excellent job and I'd like to thank him (Coun Prodger) for an excellent report.

"But does he think that on 46 separate occasions, the industrial action has placed the citizens of Worcestershire, that's men, women and children in peril as a result of their actions?"

His outburst led to fierce exchanges in the council chamber, with Labour Councillor Richard Udall calling it "nonsense".

"To try and blame the unions for the strike action is nonsense, what we've seen is predictable union bashing," he said.

"Nobody can pretend it's sensible to ask 60-year-olds to climb up ladders into burning bridges."

Coun Prodger said he had "regret" that the strikes have been continuing and lamented the cost to taxpayers.

The £166,000 bill includes the costs of providing cover during the strikes, payments to volunteers, radio campaigns to warn people about it, sending catering to alternative locations and other "preparatory" costs.

The report, which was presented to politicians at County Hall, also revealed how on average 17 engines out of 43 have been out of action in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Coun Prodger said: "Contingency plans have had to be put in place but at a cost. There is no way we can continue with this strike, whoever you want to blame - it's caused us a lot of headaches.

"There is an issue, a serious one and we all hope it can be resolved quickly."

He said the service had not walked away from a single 999 call during the strikes.

Mr Yates said it is a "dispute between the unions and central Government" he wanted resolved.

"It's a concern of everybody that we maintain cover during strike periods," he said.

"It's been ok so far but we hope this can be resolved as quickly as possible at national level."

He added: "The matter of the fire service dispute is an extremely complex one."