POSTAGE stamps being issued tomorrow pay tribute to Britain’s tough firefighters, whose courage and bravery saves thousands of lives every year. The Royal Mail set of six show scenes of the London Fire Brigade, Britain’s largest fire and rescue service

By Mike Brooke

POSTAGE stamps being issued tomorrow (Tuesday) pay tribute to Britain's tough firefighters, whose courage and bravery saves thousands of lives every year.

The Royal Mail set of six show the dramatic, testing conditions with scenes of the London Fire Brigade, Britain's largest fire and rescue service operating from 112 fire stations.

London's firefighters were called to 130,000 incidents last year alone, with one of the busiest divisions covering Tower Hamlets in London's overcrowded East End.

The stamps were created by Rose Designs in South East London on commission from Royal Mail.

Each of the six stamp values depicts one of the dangers firefighters face each day protecting the public:

First Class: Two crew members tackling a blaze, the work firefighters are best known for.

54p: Firefighter in a specialist gas-tight suit and breathing apparatus tackling a chemical spillage.

56p: Traffic accident with specialist equipment to cut free people trapped in a car wreckage.

62p: Severe floods resulted in a massive rescues up and down the country in 2007.

81p: Search and rescue techniques using tracker dogs in the rubble of a collapsed building looking for survivors.

90p: Fire safety demonstrations at public events and school visits.

The set is on sale at post offices from September 1 to highlight the London Fire Service campaign encouraging people to become fire safety 'champions' making sure their families and neighbours are safe. The campaign was started in June by actor Cliff Parisi, who plays Minty in BBC's EastEnders. A presentation pack is available at �4.35.