MILITARY Green Goddess teams covering for striking firefighters in North and East Yorkshire have been called out to only a handful of incidents since the 48-hour walkout began.

Those leading the stand-in service today praised the public's show of common sense in keeping 999 calls to a minimum.

Military crews were sent to two incidents in North Yorkshire and two in Bridlington last night and early today.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said that, up to 8am today, the county's joint operations control centre had received eight fire-related calls. Of these, the military were despatched to two incidents last night.

One was a hoax call, which claimed someone was trapped in a house fire in Sherburn-in-Elmet.

A Green Goddess was dispatched from RAF Church Fenton which reached the scene, but found no fire. A breathing apparatus vehicle sent from Imphal Barracks in York was then turned back.

The other incident was a dustbin fire in the Layerthorpe area of York, which was already out when a Green Goddess crew from Imphal arrived.

Last night, striking firefighters in York gave an impressive show of strength as all 60 staff walked out at 6pm. They were joined on the picket line by local branch representatives from unions Unison and the Rail, Maritime.

Updated: 11:37 Thursday, November 14, 2002