THE reputation of Greater Manchester's fire brigade is being tarnished by a minority, a fire chief has claimed.

Fire Officer Barry Dixon spoke out after crews in Bury delivered a vote of no confidence in management and accused them of operating a `culture of corporate bullying'.

It follows a decision to reprimand three firefighters for sleeping on the floor instead of in £400 authorised chairs.

And yesterday, the M.E.N. revealed another probe has been launched by bosses into allegations of bullying at Farnworth station, near Bolton, which peaked when an officer's locker was bricked up.

Mr Dixon, who has nearly 40 years' experience in the service, said unrest among some of the 1,900 front-line firefighters stems from a `resistance to change' and `ill-considered pranks' by a minority.

He said: "It hurts me when the reputations of our firefighters are undermined as 99 per cent of our people are brilliant.

"Some issues are not always popular. We understand this.

"One of the problems was that we approached the changes while other fire services sat back and watched.

"A lot of what we are doing here is being taken up across the country.

"It is about changing the culture and we have led the way with the modernisation agenda nationally. I think morale has been affected. There has been a lot of change in a short period of time.

"We want to get things right. It is about making sure that everyone who has a say in what we do gets that say."

Mr Dixon refused to talk specifically about the situation at Farnworth or Bury but said the vote of no confidence in management left him `saddened'.

He said: "We want to address the concerns that people have got and try to make them better. We are listening to what people are saying."