AN Enfield family left combing through ashes for personal possessions after their home was gutted in a fire said emergency fire cover organised by London Fire Brigade let them down.

Roulla and Dougie Spanos, of Birkbeck Road, said the efforts of the firefighters employed by private company Asset Co were "appalling and ludicrous".

The cover was arranged by London Fire Brigade bosses to cover an eight-hour strike by regular firefighters in a dispute over shift patterns.

The Spanos' house caught fire just before 5pm on Saturday and claimed they had to ring the 999 number six times and wait up 20 minutes before a fire engine arrived at the scene which had escalated from smoke to rising flames.

A second engine arrived shortly afterwards crewed by Emergency Fire Crew (EFC) personnel.

However, they did not even have the breathing apparatus that would have enabled them to fight the fire from the inside and instead had to squirt water on the blaze from the outside, while the family were forced to watch in horror as the fire grew resulting in the roof of their home collapsing.

Mrs Spanos said she wanted the public to know the truth about the "totally inadequate" emergency cover being provided and said the firefighters were not even able to aim the hose in the right direction.

When put under pressure by the horrified family, the fire officier in charge was alleged to have said "we are trying".

The fire was eventually put out when the fire crews from Enfield, Tottenham and Chingford came off strike at 6pm and raced to the scene to bring the fire under control.

It follows a pledge from London Fire Brigade Commissioner Ron Dobson who promised residents every area of London would have adequate cover.

He said: "As firefighters our job is to protect the public from fire day and night so this strike over proposed shift times is very disappointing.

"We have plans that mean every area of London has fire cover and we will be doing all that we can to prevent this FBU action putting Londoners at risk."

Twenty seven fire engines were withdrawn from service during he strike, and placed in "strategic locations" to cover incidents across the capital – one of which was in Enfield.