WORCESTERSHIRE'S elected fire service boss says he has "no intentions whatsoever" of overseeing cuts - despite the worry about severe reductions in Government funding.

Councillor Derek Prodger, chairman of the Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority, says he will do whatever it takes to protect the front line regardless of what Chancellor George Osborne coughs up.

As your Worcester News first revealed earlier this week, the Government has already reached a provisional agreement for some departments to cut 30 per cent from their funds by 2020.

One of those is the Department for Communities and Local Government, which includes councils and fire authorities.

Councillor Prodger and Mark Yates, his chief fire officer, attended a Worcestershire County Council meeting to present an annual report on the service.

It revealed that the existing collaboration with Warwickshire will be shared more widely with other fire authorities in areas like Shropshire and Northamptonshire to see if there is interest in more money-saving ideas.

During the debate Councillor Richard Udall, who leads the Labour group on the fire authority, said: "It's been a difficult year but I'd like to thank him and his chief fire officer for the wonderful work the service has achieved."

He said by working together "significant, damaging cuts" have been avoided but asked Councillor Prodger for his views on the future austerity measures.

Councillor Prodger revealed the fire authority was working on a plan to beef up its reserves - money stashed away for a rainy day - to help in future years.

He said: "When it comes to the proposed austerity measures, we are still dedicated to running proper front line services.

"It is my intention and the chief fire officer's intention to keep that front line service going, we are building up our reserves very carefully and have no intentions whatsoever at removing anything from it.

"Of course we will comply with the Government's austerity measures, broadly speaking, because we have to - but we're looking at out reserves already and building that up to keep that front line."

His comments come despite the service looking to remove up to 44 firefighters across both counties by 2020.

To deal with less staff, they have signed up some firefighters to being on duty 24 hours a day, which includes 12 hours 'on call' at on-site accommodation.

During those 12 extra hours they get a 25 per cent pay rise, as we revealed back in February.

A further report on how the fire service can save money by working with other authorities is expected to be published in December.