THE Notts Fire and Rescue moved a step closer to axing two fire engines after it was agreed the proposals would go to a public consultation.
At a meeting at the Notts Fire and Rescue headquarters at Bestwood Lodge, yesterday, fire authority members voted to gauge public opinion about cutting services at West Bridgford and Arnold stations to try and save £1.8 million.
Leaflets and posters advertising public meetings will be displayed in the areas affected between now and the vote in September.
The authority could save up to £700,000 per year by cutting the services from Arnold and West Bridgford.
Notts' Chief Fire Officer Frank Swann warned that further cuts could see Notts Fire and Rescue unable to meet response targets in the future.
Mr Swann explained that cutting two engines would leave Notts with 32 full time services and, through their Integrated Risk Management Plan, they currently aim to attend 90 per cent of incidents within ten minutes.
"If we go below 30 appliances we wont be able to fulfil our contract with the public," he said.
"But I'm confident that this will not put the people at any significant risk," he added, before warning councillors that they may have to alter their response targets or face missing them if the government continues to cut their funding.
Darrel Pulk, chairman of the fire authority, added: "We would be making these changes anyway, but we would have liked to use the money we saved elsewhere. Difficult times require people to make difficult decisions and this is not the end of the story."
