As firefighters called their first national strike in 25 years on Wednesday night, the trainee journalists at the Editorial Centre covered the story from a Hastings perspective.

The young journalists, who produce two weekly newspapers - the Hastings Archer and the Hastings Conquest - went on a 24-hour news alert.

They followed Green Goddesses until 3am, spoke to firefighters and victims of fires, looked at the political position, offered safety advice and wrote editorial comments.

Their comprehensive coverage of the fire strike in Hastings can be seen at www.hastings-news.co.uk.

One of the stories, by Laurie Coombs of the Burton Mail, told of Hastings being on a state of high alert, with another, by Matt Chorley of the Taunton Times and Emma Kenly of the Ilford Recorder, describing how Green Goddesses were called out to a factory fire in nearby Ponswood five hours into the stoppage.

The coverage included information on public sector pay, how to stay safe during the dispute, a comment piece, information on how the 999 system will work during the dispute, arguments for and against, a vox-pop and a look back to the 1977 dispute.

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