CALL off the fire strike! That's the verdict of Evening Star readers today as the firefighters' first 48-hour strike comes to an end.More than 300 people took part in our survey on the web and in face-to-face interviews in Ipswich and Felixstowe.

By Paul Geater

CALL off the fire strike! That's the verdict of Evening Star readers today as the firefighters' first 48-hour strike comes to an end.

More than 300 people took part in our survey on the web and in face-to-face interviews in Ipswich and Felixstowe.

The result was exactly two-to-one opposed to the firefighters' strikes.

Conciliation talks between the government and fire unions are now clearly a top priority in many peoples' minds as eight-day strikes loom.

Web polls have to be read cautiously but, linked with the face-to-face interviews, the result is almost identical to surveys carried out by other media in Suffolk and in East Anglia as a whole.

The Star's web poll also suggests that only one in four people believe firefighters should be given a 40 per cent pay increase.

FULL STORY IN TONIGHT'S EVENING STAR