As talks aimed at ending the firemen's strike reach a crucial stage, John Hobbs reports on the passion a North-East farmer has for the Green Goddess fire engines manned by the Army during the dispute.

Farmer Frank Beddard fell in love with the Green Goddess at first sight. And it was an affair which was to develop into a passion which continues until today.

Every time he glimpses on the TV news one of the Army-manned fire engines, called up during the current firemen's pay dispute, memories come flooding back.

As a student nurse at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Frank joined the then Auxiliary Fire Service, run by Durham County Fire Brigade, in 1960 - and had his first encounter with a Green Goddess.

Auxiliary Fireman 4608 Beddard is still the proud holder of a Green Licence, which allows him to drive hose carriers, auxiliary transport vehicles, solo dispatch motorcycles and, of course, Green Goddesses.

In those days, said Frank, now 61 and farming at Cowshill, in Upper Weardale, the some times ridiculed vehicles belonged to the Auxiliary Fire Service and not the Army - and they were manned by voluntary and fully trained crews.

Not wishing to jeopardise the Official Secrets Act, he said the main aim of their training seemed to be aimed at a possible nuclear attack on Britain.

"You could make the vehicle disappear with camoulflage sheets, that's why they were painted green," said Frank. "And we were told you could also use the Green Goddess to shield the crew from possible nuclear fall-out by sleeping under it. But this proved a bit of a nuisance if you had an oil leak."

Green Goddesses may not have the hi-tech equipment of today's fire engines, but they were fitted with a powerful Coventry-climax auxiliary water pump, which could lift you off your feet if you were not careful.

The 4 x 4 vehicles were also useful at crossing ploughed fields and crashing through hedges.

"That gave you a real buzz," said Frank. "It many ways it was the start of a great adventure."

Adventure was the name of the game for young Frank and other AFS recruits. But there were also terrifying moments.

Frank recalls how he was ordered secretly to climb on to the towering roof of Bishop Auckland Town Hall. "There were sirens and horns sounding all around me, but I had been told to lie low and flat on the roof. I was terrified. It wasn't until another recruit came up to rescue me that I realised what was going on.

"As he carried me down the ladder to safety. I realised he was also scared out of his wits. I could feel his knees knocking like jelly.

"I still get a tingle thinking back to those days."

As he gazes across the fells in Upper Weardale, Frank reflects on his love affair with the Green Goddess with both pride and pleasure.

"I would love to go out and buy one now. I would treat it like a real lady. That would give me a real buzz."