A COUNCILLOR has desribed a crunch meeting between fire chiefs and councillors as 'a shambles'.

Chief fire officer designate, Graham Thompson, attended Tuesday's meeting of the policy and resources committee to explain the cuts to Leyland's fire cover, which will see 10 part-time firefighters made redundant.

But, despite spending more than an hour discussing the cuts and expressing their fears, councillors say they are still left without any answers.

The decision to axe the Leyland part-time crew is currently being reviewed by home office minister George Howarth, who may decide to overturn the decision, made by Lancashire's combined fire authority, on the grounds that locals weren't given enough time to discuss the plans before they were decided.

Coun Bill Evans said: "It was a shambles. We weren't allowed to ask all the questions we wanted and we didn't get any straight answers.

"I still believe Leyland will suffer because of this. They have assured us a part-time crew is available in Bamber Bridge, but that often isn't staffed.

"The part-time firefighters often have to work on the full-time fire engine in Leyland because their aren't enough staff. If the part-time firefighters go, does it mean that the full-time engine won't be able to run all the time either? That would be a disaster.

"It will only take one person to die to prove that this reduction in service is a killer."

Other councillors were angry at not being allowed to discuss how their wards would be affected.

Coun Gina Lewis, who chaired the meeting, said: "The matter was discussed at great length but the councillors were covering the same ground more than once. We all feel there should have been more time to discuss the matter before the fire authority made its decision."

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