POOLE MP Neil Duncan-Jordan said the figures used to justify fire service cuts “simply don’t add up”. 

The Labour MP has called for “consideration of what the proposed change actually means for residents, businesses and firefighters”. 

Plans published by fire service bosses last month threaten to downgrade fire stations across Dorset and Wiltshire, decreasing fire cover across large areas. 

Eight fire stations are set to lose a fire engine, while Poole - which provides cover across the south of Dorset – faces losing a full-time crewed fire engine by April 2025. 

The removal of fire engines at Wimborne, Sherborne and Portland will be reviewed in January 2025. 

(Image: NQ)

Due to a decade of cuts, it is taking longer than ever for firefighters to arrive at a fire in Dorset and Wiltshire – 10 minutes and 46 seconds in 2023, with firefighters being sent out in smaller crews.  

Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “Poole residents will be concerned to find out that not only is the capacity of the local fire station effectively being reduced, but that some of the services they fund are being redirected to Wiltshire.  

“Some of the figures that are being used to justify the loss of the second engine at Poole simply don’t add up and I think there needs to be more detailed consideration of what the proposed change actually means for residents, businesses and firefighters before anything happens.  

“My constituents don’t realise that just because there are four or five vehicles sitting in Poole fire station, the service doesn’t have the staff to send them all out at the same time.  

“The proposal to lose the second engine is only going to make that situation worse.”  

Val Hampshire, Fire Brigades Union executive council member for the south west, added the cuts are “dangerous” and said they need to stop. 

She said: “Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service is in desperate need of investment, but instead faces another round of devastating cuts. 

“This is completely unsustainable and will only deepen a crisis in firefighter and public safety.  

“The service has said that residents can still expect a fire engine at a fire. But the key question is where will it have to travel from, and so how long it will take to get there?  

“Every second counts when it comes to a fire. Fewer firefighters on shift and fewer fire engines available will put lives and homes at greater risk.” 

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: “Plans to cut Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service will put homes, communities and public safety at risk.  

“Firefighters are already under immense pressure to keep communities safe, doing more with less. Since 2010 we have lost one in five firefighters to cuts in the UK.  

“Slashing resources and downgrading fire cover means people waiting longer for help, but every second counts at a fire. The fire authority must put public safety before cost-cutting and stop these dangerous cuts."