Military personnel will help cut people free from car wreckages in the event of an accident during a planned firefighters strike.

A specialist military rescue tender is to be drafted on to the front line in Bradford to help with any emergencies if the strike goes ahead as planned on Tuesday.

Two ageing appliances, based at Belle Vue Barracks in Manningham, were expected to arrive this weekend alongside other temporary stations in the district as talks aimed at averting the strike were adjourned.

Fire Brigade Union leaders are considering their next move following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to break the deadlock in the pay dispute.

A full meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority spent 90 minutes considering the city's contingency plans in the event of a major disaster.

Councillor Tony Niland (Lab, Bowling) who represents Bradford Council on the authority, said he could not release any details of the plan, but said cover would be limited to fires which endanger life or property.

"If there was a bonfire in a field where nobody was going to get hurt they would let it burn out," he said.

"There are limited resources but we are hoping the outcome of discussions will be that firefighters will attend serious incidents.

"The firefighters are caring personnel and if there is a life threatening incident or if people are dying then we hope humanity will kick in.

"Everybody has got a role to play and we need people to take the safety message on board by not leaving chip pans unattended or for people not to build bonfires near buildings."

As well as the two appliances at Manningham another two Green Goddesses - which can only reach speeds of 35 miles an hour - will be based at Thornbury Barracks in Pudsey.

People in Keighley will be covered by two appliances in the town centre and a further two are to be based in Rawdon.

It is still unclear whether retained stations at Silsden and Haworth would be manned by part-time firefighters.

But leading firefighter at Ilkley station, Alex Watson, said: "Everyone at Ilkley is part of the Fire Brigades Union and I think that most of the men at Otley are as well. If the FBU decides to strike then we will be outside the stations too."

If a blaze broke out a Green Goddess manned by the military with a senior fire officer would attend with a police escort.

Shipley MP Chris Leslie, the Government's Fire Safety Minister, said he hoped the strike could still be averted but if it went ahead the Green Goddesses would be expected to serve large areas.

"There will be quite a lot of equipment out there but we have never said we can provide much more than a basic service," he said.