A PROTEST against proposed cuts to fire crews was held outside the headquarters of the fire service.

Members of the Fire Brigade Union gathered outside the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service building in Charles Hastings Way, Worcester as the Fire Authority met in the building today to discuss proposed changes.

Firefighters claim the proposals will scrap 'guaranteed' fire cover at night and weekends by replacing fulltime firefighters with retained crew in some parts of the county.

The move is being looked at as fire chiefs explore ways of keeping fire crews at five, rather than cutting them to four as initially proposed earlier this year.

Retained firefighters have previously been criticised for lacking the local knowledge and experience of their fulltime colleagues.

Labour councillors tried to introduce an amendment to delay the proposals, but it was defeated by Tory councillors.

Andrew Davies, aged 55, of Malvern, said: "I'm a retired firefighter. I've served the authority for 31 years and I spent nine at Malvern.

"These cuts mean that during nights and weekends, cover [would be] handed over to retained personnel. Their response can't be guaranteed."

Cllr Fran Oborski said: "Nationally people are concerned about fire. The public won't believe we are credible if we continue with these changes at this time."

Cllr Oborski pointed to the Grenfell Tower fire and the potential takeover of the authority by the Police and Crime Commissioner as reasons to halt the process.

Cllr John Raine said he read the report on the potential changes four times and still could not understand what exactly was being proposed.

He said: "I was thoroughly frustrated, this was the opportunity to talk about and consider what's in [the] negotiations.

"This is an appalling time to be thinking about any changes in crews in light of all the events recently."

Chief Fire Officer Nathan Travis said the service has a £1.6m budget gap and added that the Grenfell Tower fire debate was more about safety precautions than fire crews.

Keith Chance, head of operations for the fire service, said in Malvern the proposals would see retained on-call firefighters responding instead of full-time crews for an extra 40 minutes a day.

Cllr Udall proposed the amendment to have five firefighters per appliance and to defer decisions on crewing until the budget process next year.

It was defeated by five votes to 12, which prompted members of the public to exclaim 'shame' and 'cuts cost lives'.