FIREFIGHTERS across Merseyside and Cheshire are to be consulted on whether to accept the latest phase of their pay deal or move towards the threat of industrial action.

The executive of the Fire Brigades Union last night decided to ask its 53,000 members if they believe the staging of a 7pc pay rise was acceptable.

If firefighters reject the deal there will be a fresh ballot on industrial action.

Les Skarratts, leader of the Merseyside branch of the FBU, said: "There will be a ballot of the membership on the deal as it stands now.

"The membership are very angry and are also extremely frustrated at the management for the way they have acted.

"We feel they are reneging on the deal which we agreed with them and this is an act of dishonour.

"The Merseyside branch of the FBU was one of the branches which pushed for a ballot because this issue is so fundamental.

"We are now calling on the fire authority membership to instruct the fire service to implement the agree-ment in full because we believe they will be as frustrated as we are on this matter."

National union leaders said they believed the deal - which means a 7pc pay rise will be paid 3.5pc now and the rest in the New Year, instead of all at once - would be accepted despite anger over the staging of the payment.

The consultative ballot will begin in the next few days and will be completed within three weeks.

There will be no recommendation on the ballot, which will be the first time firefighters have voted individually on the deal aimed at ending the long-running fire service dispute which sparked a series of strikes over the past year.

Union activists have been pressing for a recalled national conference to discuss the deal.

But the executive ruled this out and decided that the best way forward would be to consult members.

This makes it less likely that there will be a return to the unofficial action in the fire service seen over the past week.

A union spokesman said: "We know that firefighters are unhappy at what the employers did.

"We are also deeply unhappy, but we believe that people are capable of making up their own mind about whether a rise of 7pc in two stages is acceptable."

Earlier, local authority employers warned that the pay rise could be delayed if the executive delayed accepting the deal.

The employers have always insisted the union knew that the Audit Commission would have to give the go-ahead for the rise, something which cannot happen until next year.