British firefighters are due to meet a mediator today in an effort to settle a bitter pay dispute with the government.
The official conciliation body ACAS said it would meet Fire Brigades Union chiefs this afternoon, while it will meet separately with the firefighters' local council employers tomorrow morning.
Firefighters called off a planned strike due to start today after agreeing to accept an invitation by ACAS for talks to settle the dispute, which led to an eight-day strike last week.
The firefighters say they could still go ahead with a strike in the eight days before Christmas.
During last week's strike, nearly 19,000 military personnel using outdated equipment were forced to provide cover for the 55,000 striking civilian firefighters.
But the government says the troops' strike experience proves that more flexible working rules could make firefighting more efficient.
Firefighters were seeking a 40 per cent pay rise, but had indicated they would settle for 16 per cent.
The government says any rise over four per cent should be paid for by more efficient working practices, such as deploying fewer firefighters in early morning hours when there are fewer fires, and cooperating with police at response centres.
The stand-off has turned into the biggest union challenge of Mr Tony Blair's term s prime minister, and has also threatened to stretch military resources at a time when forces are preparing for the possibility of war in Iraq.