Fire crews and control room staff from Strathclyde Fire Brigade lobbied a meeting of the fire board in Hamilton as part of a UK-wide call to bring the basic wage for a firefighter up to £30,000, with full pay parity for emergency fire control staff.

Qualified firemen currently receive a basic of £21,531 after four years training.

Union officials said that around 200 demonstrators had lobbied the meeting at the South Lanarkshire council offices.

A pay deal was last agreed 25 years ago

Fire Brigades Union spokesman Ken Ross said that 40 fire staff sitting in the public galleries walked out in protest during the public meeting.

He said: "The fire board refused to make a statement on the pay claim.

"They said they would not comment on it until their next meeting, which will not be until October and our members left in disgust.

"We are obviously going to go back and let them know that we are grossly disappointed about the lack of comment."

Mr Ross said the union's focus would now be on national negotiations, although the campaign in Strathclyde would continue.

Joe Shaw, convener of the fire board, stopped short of endorsing the protest, but said he hoped the dispute would be resolved quickly.

The North Lanarkshire councillor said: "It would be premature for the fire board to make any decision on anything which is under negotiation.

"That doesn't mean we are unsympathetic. I think a review of pay and conditions would be beneficial to the service.

"Nobody wants to see strike action, because at the end of the day we are there to serve the community and I would not like to see it happen."

Police said they had no reports of any incidents relating to the protest.

Last month, fire brigade unions warned of industrial action at a national rally in Glasgow.

There has not been a national strike by firefighters since 1977.