Firefighter abuse up

ATTACKS on firefighters doing their job have increased by a quarter in the past year, according to their trade union.

The Fire Brigades Union said there were 933 incidents involving an attack on firefighters in England, an increase of 194 on the previous year.

The union also highlighted figures showing the loss of 500 firefighting jobs in England in the last year, saying it is taking fire crews 30 seconds longer to reach callouts compared with 2010.