Green Goddesses have been called to three separate incidents in the North-East in the first half hour of this evening's strike, a spokesman for the authorities said.

Army personnel were called to put out a fire in a recycling bin outside a store in Stockton-on-Tees, a pile of tyres ablaze in Jarrow, South Tyneside and a portable cabin in Tynemouth, North Tyneside.

The spokesman said none of the call-outs was being treated as a major incident. More to follow.