HOPES of an end to the bitter firefighters' dispute collapsed last night when union activists overturned a recommendation from their leaders to accept a final pay offer.

Delegates at a recalled national conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted to recommend "in the strongest terms possible" that firefighters reject the offer, worth 16 per cent over three years linked to working practices.

About 250 delegates meeting in Brighton voted overwhelmingly to recommend rejection, which went against a surprise decision by the union's executive.

Rank and file members expressed outrage yesterday that the executive called off a 24-hour strike planned to start at 6pm today and recommend acceptance of the offer.

The proposed deal will now be discussed by firefighters across the country over the next two weeks before another national conference is held to decide whether to accept the deal or continue with a campaign of industrial action.

The union's general secretary, Andy Gilchrist, had argued that the offer was the best available in the political climate and was worthy of recommendation.

He appealed for unity at yesterday's conference, which was closed to the media, but he faced criticism from activists.

The executive voted by 12 to six to recommend the offer, revealing splits in the leadership for the first time since a campaign of industrial action was launched last year.

Some of the delegates said the offer was little different to one previously rejected and described it as a "rubbish" deal.

The decision to reject the recommendation came as no surprise to North-East FBU representatives.

Firefighter Ian Moore, who has co-ordinated strike action in County Durham, said: "The majority of stations already voted overwhelmingly to reject the last offer.

"I have read the new offer the executive wanted to accept and there is very little change."

Mr Moore said firefighters were worried about war with Iraq and the possibility of it coinciding with strike action.

He said: "It has caused a lot of controversy and debate among the membership and they are concerned about the situation.

"But if we have to strike, we strike, and we are still up for this action."

The FBU's regional organiser, Steve Gregg, who is based in Cleveland, said firefighters were 30-1 in favour of continuing strike action, based on recent polls taken at stations.