Green Goddesses took to the streets of Hampshire last night for the first time in 25 years as the full impact of the firefighters strike began to hit home.

Within the first few hours of the strike Royal Navy crews manning the ancient rescue vehicles were called out 20 times across the county, fortunately not one of them a serious incident.

But just an hour into the dispute, two of Southampton's Green Goddesses were brought to life for what, on first accounts, may have been their first and biggest test - reports of a fire in a tower block.

Accompanied by sirens from supporting police cars, they made their way out of their base from the Territorial Army Centre in Millbrook.

They travelled against the driving wind and rain along Millbrook Road West, reaching a top speed of about 40 miles per hour.

About ten minutes later they had arrived at Millbrook Towers in Windermere Avenue, just seconds away from Redbridge Fire Station.

Half a dozen Royal Navy personnel rushed into the tower block following reports of smoke coming from near the top of the lift shaft.

Their colleagues remained by the roadside, opening up a fire hydrant in the pavement and unravelling hoses from the Green Goddesses.

Clusters of curious onlookers stood in the shelter of shops in the parade opposite, and residents in flats above looked on at what turned out to be a false alarm.

Sue Gardner, 43, said: "I do think they should give firefighters their money so they can do the job properly.

"It just seemed like everyone was rushing around. What if there had been a fire on the top floor? I don't think they would have been able to cope."

One of the Royal Navy team, who did not want to be named, said: "It went very smoothly and everyone in the flats were very friendly towards us.''

After returning to their base, the teams of replacement firefighters were called out again within about 30 minutes.

Their journey took them to Nelson Road, Freemantle, where a firework had been set off near a phone box. With no sign of fire or damage the crews returned back to base.

The next call came shortly before 9pm when two engines made their way across the city to Dimond Road, Bitterne Park, following reports of a road traffic accident in which someone was thought to be trapped.

It emerged that the passengers had got out and the engines returned to base.

After more than three hours of quietness, at around 12.30pm the machines rolled into action again. This time they responded to an automatic fire alarm at Dukes Keep office block in Marsh Lane but returned within 20 minutes.

And at 5.30am the teams were called out again - this time to Tesco in Millbrook and another false alarm.