Full fire cover demanded for town

An investigation is being carried out into the Penhallow Hotel fire

A senior councillor in a resort in Cornwall is demanding fire cover in the town be increased to a 24-hour service all year round.

Newquay councillor Denis Dent says the town's popularity means its current fire station, which has only daytime staff, does not give enough protection.

Three people died in a fire at the town's Penhallow Hotel last August.

The future of Cornwall's fire brigade will be mapped out at a meeting in February. It needs to save £1m a year.

There are up to 100,000 people there then, up from a regular population of 20,000 Cllr Denis Dent

At night, the station is covered by retained crews called out from home.

However, Cllr Dent said that was not enough and Newquay needed more cover, particularly in peak months, which see the town busy from May to September.

He said: "There are up to 100,000 people there then, up from a regular population of 20,000 or thereabouts."

He said he did not think the idea would be taken up by the county council and fire service, but added that he was determined to fight for it.

The county council needs to save £1m a year to help address an overall £15m brigade budget shortfall.

The government's chief fire and rescue advisor told the BBC he believed tourist areas such as Newquay should not automatically have full-time, 24-hour cover.

Sir Ken Knight said it was not an easy decision.

He said: "It depends on the risks that are occurring, it depends on the risk profile, it depends on experience of the type of calls that are recurring.

"It would be absolutely wrong to generalise any more than it would to have a national fire service. It has to be thought through locally."

The county council said detailed work was continuing on fire cover proposals.

An official investigation into the Penhallow Hotel fire is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.