A CRISIS is looming at the fire brigade because they haven't accounted for thousands of pounds a month needed to keep Lancaster's retained fire pump.

The decision was made to cut the engines at Lancaster, Accrington and Leyland as part of a cost cutting exercise. But the retained firefighters campaigned against the cut and the decision was deferred to the Home Office.

That means savings of thousands of pounds a month that the Combined Fire Authority were counting on cannot be made.

The last update suggested that a Home Office decision would be made by the end of September but last night there was still no word. The fire fighting team at Lancaster have been waiting for six months for a decision. The retained fire fighters were called out yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon to deal with a diesel spill at Aldcliffe Road in the. The fire fighters spent four hours making the area safe.

A spokesman for the fire brigade explained how the situation was being dealt with: "It's not actually costing the tax-payer any more money at this stage but at the next budget meeting it might provoke another enquiry.

"At the minute we are making saves on administration costs and other areas. The problem is the Home Office are taking a very long time to make any decision. It was George Howarth who was the junior minister but they moved him and Michael Brian took over so he had to look at it all over again. We should have a decision soon. This problem may come up again at the next Combined Fire Authority meeting on November 1."

Local County Councillor David Woods called for the decision to be made as soon as possible: "We want the engine to be kept of course but it's no good running £10,000 over budget if this figure is right. We want this sorted out as soon as possible."

Lancaster County Councillor Bob Clark, who is a leading member of the Combined Fire Authority, said he would have to wait until the next meeting to be sure of any figures. He added: "I was told the decision would definitely be made by now. We just have to presume it will come next month."

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