Petition over fire station future

About 2,000 people have signed a petition to keep a fire station in the Black Country open.

West Midlands Fire Service said the Sedgley station for retained staff has been shut for 14 months, and Dudley's site was "two or three minutes" away.

Campaigners organised a public meeting which was being attended by fire officers in Sedgley on Thursday.

The fire service said a decision would be made after a consultation ending on 20 October.

Sedgley fire station has been closed since eight firefighters were suspended last year amid allegations of gross misconduct.

Six were eventually allowed to return to their jobs but one was sacked and another demoted.

'More appliances'

Michael Evans, a councillor for Sedgley on Dudley Council, said "very narrow major roads" going into the town from Wolverhampton and Dudley were often congested.

"To me this operation basically is just to save money. Money does not come before lives," he said.

Bob Deeks, an area commander at the fire service, said: "It takes four minutes for a retained firefighter to get to Sedgley fire station before they even respond.

"In four minutes the crews from Dudley can be past Sedgley fire station."

The fire service was removing the appliance but putting another in at Dudley and adding more appliances overall, he added.

The fire service has organised public meetings at Sedgley fire station on 5 and 6 September.