FIREFIGHTERS who were set to lose their jobs as part of a plan to cut back the county's fire service could be in line for a last-gasp reprieve.

A crew of 10 part time firefighters based at Accrington faced the axe along with one of the station's three engines.

But now the retained crew is keeping its fingers crossed after Home Office Minister George Howarth announced that plans to scrap their jobs were on hold.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope is "delighted" at the latest development and is backing the crew to keep their jobs.

Mr Howarth has blocked the budget proposals while government inspectors check whether the move is justified.

Similar plans to axe a part time engine and crew at Leyland and Lancaster will also come under the spotlight.

Mr Howarth made the decision after meeting Hyndburn MP Greg Pope and South Ribble MP David Borrow.

They called the meeting after Lancashire's Combined Fire Authority proposed to axe the three retained fire engines last month.

Mr Pope voiced his concerns about the proposal claiming that the Accrington engine attends 150 fire calls a year and the savings would be just £40,000.

He was particularly worried because Hyndburn contains several chemical factories including Nipa Laboratories in Oswaldtwistle and William Blythe Ltd in Church.

He said that he was particularly worried that without the extra engine available at Accrington, a chemical fire requiring three or more pumps would leave little cover for house fires and other emergencies.

After the meeting, Mr Pope said Mr Howarth had listened very sympathetically to the case.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.