Union protests against fire cuts

Fire crews are worried community programmes will also be affected

The Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) is to begin a campaign against cuts to services in Devon and Somerset.

The Devon and Somerset Fire Authority voted to axe 24 full-time posts and allow dual-crewing of aerial platforms to deal with a £1.3m budget shortfall.

At a meeting on Wednesday the FBU described the cuts as "disgusting" and said they could cost lives.

The authority said the decision taken was the option that would have the least adverse impact on the service.

Community education

It voted to axe 24 posts in Exeter, Torquay and Barnstaple.

It said the post cuts would not result in job losses and retained crews would be trained to use the turntable ladders.

But fire crews say that although the authority was concerned about minimising the impact on frontline services, other roles the brigade carried out, such as fire prevention training and school visits, could be hit.

Retained crews will be trained to use turntable ladders

Firefighters fear any constraints on the budget could affect the ability to deliver these projects.

Plymouth Greenbank fire station watch commander Tim Mockridge said: "I've been in this 30 years and when I started we had to go to a house fire nearly every tour.

"Now we probably don't get one every two months, and that's nearly all down to community education, the issue of smoke detectors and talking to children in schools."

Bob Walker of the FBU said: "We say that cuts cost lives and we want to keep the services as they are, and as the public expects them."

The FBU said it was seeking an urgent meeting with the brigade to reverse the planned cuts and that it was to lobby all councillors on the fire authority about its concerns.

Brigade bosses said the authority had chosen the only viable option by approving the proposed cuts.