FRONTLINE fire cover in Tenbury Wells can be saved for just 2p a day - the same sum that the Government wants off average council tax bills in the town and surrounds to cap the spending plans of Hereford and Worcester Fire Service.

A report due out today (Thursday) reveals areas covered by retained fire stations such as Tenbury as likely to be the hardest hit by cuts the service will have to make if its challenge to the cap fails.

Officially, the service says that shaving £2.3 million - or £7 off an average Band D bill - off its £26.7 million budget, as the Government wants, means a major review of crew turnout times and the areas that they cover.

The services's worst case scenario has retained stations losing appliances or even shutting because of the cap. The service also expects the cap to cost 13% of its retained fire fighters their jobs.

"If the Government does not allow our appeal, the (so-called) saving to the average council taxpayer will amount to about £7 a year or just two pence a day," said Richard Udall, chairman of Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority.

"The effect on the service, however, will be catastrophic. I'm sure that the majority of council taxpayers do not begrudge us 2p a day to save (their) service."

The authority is widely expected to back its chairman's call to fight the cap when it meets next Tuesday.

Tenbury Fire Station, in Worcester Road, Burford, is crewed by 16 on-call retained fire fighters.

The station's two appliances cover a 33-mile radius.

Sub Officer David James, officer-in-charge, told the Advertiser that even the loss of an appliance - if that was what the review recommended could "seriously affect" emergency response in the area.

At the time of going to press there had been no specific reference to how the cuts could affect fire cover in Tenbury.

l If Hereford and Worcester Fire Service fails to have its cap lifted by Government then Tenbury council taxpayers will be sent the new fire precept part of their bill separately.

The bills will probably be sent out on behalf of the fire service by Malvern Hills District Council, which has not been capped.

The fire service would then pay the council. Rebilling in full is expected to cost the fire service about £500,000.