FIREFIGHTERS rallied at Hertfordshire County Hall yesterday to demand the reinstatement of their sacked colleague.

Ashley Brown was dismissed in December after making comments on social media about the ongoing Fire Brigades Union (FBU) dispute with the government over pensions and retirement age.

Outside the hall, his wife Nicola Brown issued an emotional plea for councillors to “help us put our life back together.”

An initial appeal against the sacking failed but the FBU is now pressing the council to reverse the decision.

Ms Brown penned a moving letter to the council before the rally.

She said that before her husband was disciplined, he rarely brought his work home with him.

“He would never speak of the emotional scars that these situations have no doubt left him with,” she said.

“When he came home it was his time to be a husband and a father to our three children. To him this meant being strong and leaving his work behind him.

“This has all changed. As a result of his dismissal I have seen Ash fall apart.

“I have had to ask for financial help from my family as this nightmare happened just two weeks before Christmas. The incredible strain this has put on us as a family is indescribable.

“Ash has never meant any harm to anyone and he has apologised for what he did. I can’t believe anyone thinks what he has been accused of doing deserves what he is now suffering.

“I appeal to you, please help us put our life back together. Please do whatever you can to help Ash get a second chance.”

But inside the meeting, Tory council leader Robert Gordon told Mr Brown’s supporters he could not intervene in employment cases.

Hertfordshire FBU secretary Darren Scotchford was not satisfied. 

“I think they can do more than they are currently doing, as elected officials, to ensure justice prevails,” he said.

Over the past week, messages of solidarity have poured in from fire stations across Britain and even from a group of firefighters in the United States.