FIREFIGHTERS in Merseyside will start balloting for strike action unless a “victimised” colleague is reinstated.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is furious after a senior official was sacked following a hearing at a “kangaroo court”.

The news comes amid FBU claims fire engines are lying idle because of a shortage of firefighters.

Leaked figures reveal engines were stood down more than 120 times during July.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) says this is “common practice” and it is still hitting its targets.

But it is the dismissal of Kevin Hughes, who worked at Whiston fire station, that has sparked most anger among crews.

He was sacked for gross misconduct after being arrested for allegedly assaulting another officer’s son during a pub brawl.

It was claimed the two men came to blows in the Victoria pub, in Warrington Road, Rainhill in July last year.

But, following a police investigation, no charges were ever brought.

Nevertheless, he was suspended by the fire service and hauled in front of a disciplinary panel last month and sacked.

Mr Hughes, who has more than a decade’s experience in the service, is appealing against the ruling and may take his case to an employment tribunal. The appeal will be heard by councillors sitting on the Fire Authority’s appeal committee but no date for it has been set.

Mr Hughes is the FBU’s third most senior Merseyside official behind branch secretary Les Skarratts and chairman Mark Dunne.

The union’s regional secretary, Kevin Brown, said: “This is a clear case of victimisation of a union official brought before a fire authority kangaroo court and found guilty.

“The fire authority brought a weak case before one of their own senior managers with no independent witnesses and no other evidence. There were many witnesses for Kevin, some of whom were independent witnesses.