The twelve hour period of industrial action by firefighters in England and Wales came to an end at 2am today (Sunday 4th May).

It was the second scheduled strike this May bank holiday weekend and the latest industrial action planned by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) as a protest against Government plans for pensions.

Chief Fire OfficerSimon Smithreported that the arrangements put into place by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to continue to provide a service had worked well.

"Again we managed the reduction in the resources that we had at our disposal well - our business continuity arrangements operated effectively and we reverted to normal services as soon as the strike came to an end.

"There was no difference to the number of calls received and incidents attended to that which we would normally expect on a bank holiday weekend and I am pleased that we maintained fire cover across the region - I would again like to thank the public for their cooperation and for taking notice of our safety messages.

"We had one incident believed to have involved deliberate fire setting, which is disappointing given that this meant our resources were stretched unnecessarily.

"Although this strike period is over, I would remind everyone that attention to fire safety and road safety remains of paramount importance this weekend, especially with it being a bank holiday which sees an increase in the risk to safety - firefighters are scheduled to strike again later today from 10am until 3pm."

Advice on how to keep safe is available on www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk, @NorthWalesFire and www.facebook.com/Northwalesfireservice .