FIREFIGHTERS claimed a “major victory” today after a landmark case ruled they are entitled to increased pensions for additional duties.

A court hearing from firefighters based in Wales on Friday evening ruled that workers are regularly paid an additional allowance for working anti-social hours and accepting shift systems up to 42 hours longer than standard working weeks.

The Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority had long argued that these arrangements could not be structured into pension payments because of the irregularity of the work.

However, the court said that since the extra work demanded of firefighters was a regular occurrence, the payments were regular, and therefore have to factor into pensions.

The authority has now been ordered to pay pension contributions from now on.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which brought the case to court, HAS called the ruling a “major victory.”

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “When a firefighter regularly carries out additional paid work, that pay should be factored into their pension regardless of whether it is part of their core role.

“The government must act now to ensure that firefighters across the country have these payments included in the calculation of their pensions.

“The coalition government decimated public-sector pensions in 2015.

“Thousands of firefighters who had risked their lives to save others saw their retirement savings slashed overnight.

“This victory is one small step in the battle to reclaim fair pensions for firefighters across the country.”