Firemen and women had been due to walk out at 9am on Wednesday for eight days as part of a campaign to win a 40% pay rise. But the leader of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Andy Gilchrist, said the walkout had been suspended so that the union and fire service employers could both make separate submissions to Acas, an independent body, over the next few days.
The executive of the FBU took the decision to engage in "exploratory talks" with Acas after meeting for more than four hours at the union's headquarters in Surrey.
However another planned eight-day strike, due to start on December 16 and run until Christmas Eve, was currently still "live", Mr Gilchrist said.
Downing Street welcomed the union's decision to call off this week's strike but stressed that any extra money for the firefighters must be funded by modernisation. "If this is a sign they are prepared to negotiate seriously on the whole issue of modernisation, then that is good news," Mr Blair's official spokesman said.
Mr Gilchrist denied that the union was climbing down after the debate had become "too politicised" or because public support was ebbing away. He said: "We've got absolutely no evidence of that - the public support has been overwhelming."
He said the inverention of Acas was timely when the government had been "warming up the dispute", an apparent reference to a report releaed today, which praised the way the military had provided emergency cover during the second strike that ended on Saturday.
The report has been seen as a way of pushing the government's agenda to modernise the fire service, which the union fears will herald job cuts.
Mr Gilchrist said he welcomed the "constructive intervention" by the chairwoman of Acas, Rita Donaghy, who contacted both sides in the dispute over the weekend suggesting fresh talks.
Mr Gilchrist said: "I am very pleased that Rita Donaghy has taken the decision to put forward a positive alternative to taking strike action. These will be exploratory talks - but we have always said we are prepared to talk."
Mr Gilchrist said the executive had taken a "very reasonable and mature" decision by deciding to suspend the strike.
Earlier, the fire service minister, Nick Raynsford, refused to rule out the government banning future fire strikes, amid talk of the dispute lasting until next summer.
Mr Raynsford said: "I hope the FBU will call off the strikes and return to the negotiating table. That's the right way forward, I urge the FBU to take it."
Asked about comments at the weekend by Mr Gilchrist saying he wanted "New Labour" replaced with "Real Labour", Mr Raynsford replied: "I think the general secretary of the FBU probably deeply regrets making those remarks. I hope the members of the union will draw the conclusion that this is a matter which should be resolved through negotiations about pay and modernisation and not on a wider agenda."
But there was still support for the FBU from other union leaders. John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, Britain's general union, said: "The people who have attempted to politicise this dispute are those in Downing Street who have been attempting to use it as an excuse to undermine the historic link between the unions and the party.
"People should not forget it was the prime minister himself who first branded the FBU and its leadership as Scargillites. No one should be under any illusion, if ministers make the mistake of turning this crisis into a battle between the unions and the government, where the support of trade unions will lie."
In a cabinet report, the government praised troops, saying disruption to national life had been "minimal" during the strike.
The report, which analysed how the 19,000 troops on board vintage green goddess tenders, stated: "Emergency cover worked well. The emergency response exceeded the original remit set for it, which was to concentrate on the protection of life."
Key reforms opposed by the FBU helped armed forces provide efficient and effective cover during the recent stoppage, it said, including joint control rooms operated with the police
·Two soldiers were arrested in Northern Ireland today over a fire in a central Belfast hotel that appeared to have been started deliberately. A spokeswoman at army headquarters in Lisburn, Co Antrim, said the two troops had not been involved in the recent firefighting operations.
Of the blaze at the Travel Lodge hotel last night, fire service divisional officer Harry Walsh said it started in the first floor kitchen. He said: "The fire would appear to have been started deliberately.
Initial inquiries found that some seat cushions had been put on an electric grill, which was then apparently turned on. This is not the sort of thing I would expect in an accidental fire".
