BIDFORD county councillor Peter Barnes has slammed proposals to close the village fire station.

Closure of the station is just one of the options which has been put forward by the county council to try and save the fire service £200,000 a year, but Coun Barnes is adamant that the station will remain as it is.

"Bidford is starting to get a few things now. We've recently opened a skateboarding park and we're hoping to get CCTV cameras later this year," he said.

"One thing we're not going to do is start cutting down our services just as we're starting to get on the map. There is no way we are going to lose our fire station, not over my dead body. If they want to close the fire station they'll have to remove me first."

But sub officer Kevin Barry, at Bidford Fire Station, says he is confident of the station's future. "We've been assured by our officers that the station is in safe hands because Bidford is getting too big now and they could not afford to close it.

"With the new school, new houses and other developments in the village, we hope it will be going up to a Category C soon, which would mean that Stratford would not be able to cover us."

Bidford is currently classed as a lower priority category D station, but its fire service has had to deal with two major incidents recently. One of those was at Bomfords Farm in Salford Priors, where a warehouse was gutted.

Coun Barnes' alternative suggestion to save cash is that Nuneaton's or Leamington's fire brigade should lose their hydraulic platforms.

He says: "If they want to save money, then I suggest they get rid of the extending ladders at Leamington or Nuneaton because they cost that much to run anyway and they only get used about twice a year.

"We could borrow, hire, rent or come to some sort of arrangement with Coventry's fire brigade. We should not be looking at closing Bidford or even be entertaining the idea of closing Bidford."