‘Morale in Warwickshire is currently at rock bottom, with professional firefighters facing redundancy after years of commitment to their local communities. Communities themselves will be stripped of fire cover, and those firefighters remaining will wait longer for support, especially in the more vulnerable rural areas of the county where response times will increase.

The fire and rescue service has not identified how these plans will be paid for in the longer term, as they are reliant upon drawing upon existing reserves. No-one has any faith in these proposals which will result in the incredible situation where Warwickshire taxpayers are paying more for less. It is an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation which needs to be put right as soon as possible.

We would be delighted to work with the new chief fire officer to provide workable plans, within existing budgets, which will ensure that effective fire cover remains in Warwickshire and the need for redundancies is removed.’