HAMPSHIRE Fire and Rescue Service defended plans to remodel many of its stations, following criticism from campaigners in a neighbouring county.

A public consultation is under way on the future of the county fire service after it published proposals to create a more “relevant and efficient” service by changing crew models and vehicle provision.

These plans were app-roved last month by the service’s governing body, the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, and are now out to a formal 12-week public consultation, which will run until December 4.

Over the past 18 months the county Fire Service has worked on a comprehensive review of itself in the face of a potential £16m gap in Government funding over the next four years.

While the Planning for a Safer Hampshire review does not foresee any of the county’s 51 stations closing, it outlines a raft of changes to personnel and equipment.

Locally, plans for Bordon include reducing the number of on-call firefighters and altering vehicle provision to save £14,000 a year.

While the Fire Service maintains these changes will save money and imp-rove efficiency, critics desc-ribed the proposals as “misleading” and said they could result in diminished coverage and response times.

A spokesman from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Stop the Cuts urged Hampshire residents not to be “deceived by claims of improvements”. “We went through a dishonest consultation on fire service cuts in West Sussex last year,” the spokesman added.

“Predicted increases in deaths and property damage were hidden, and several unfounded assurances were given. The cuts took effect in April and it is now clear, as predicted, that the assurances were false.”

Retired firefighter Tony Morris added: “The half-truths and unfounded claims of ‘improvements’ in the Hampshire proposals are very similar to those we saw in West Sussex.

“Assurances about resp-onse times, fire engine availability, and fewer fires have all failed to materialise. Some response times have trebled, availability has got worse, and building, vehicle, and chimney fires all increased last year.”

Bordon Fire Station serves a population of more than 23,900 in and around the town; is currently home to a single “enhanced vehicle” and is staffed by 15 on-call retained firefighters round the clock.

The Hampshire Fire Service estimates that the availability is at “99 per cent” and an average first response time is nine minutes and 32 seconds.

Under the proposals, the station would adopt an “ABC level four” crewing model which would see the current engine replaced with a single “intermediate vehicle” and a slim-downed staff of 13 on-call firefighters.

According to Hampshire Fire Service, these changes are estimated to see an improvement to the first response time, bringing it down to eight minutes and 30 seconds, and would bring availability up to “99.9 per cent”.

But Stop the Cuts described such claims as “a deception” because “the current response time is for proper fire engines with crews of at least four firefighters”, whereas future response times “will often be for a converted van with just two firefighters” which, while capable of handling 70 per cent of calls, cannot deal with the “most serious and most life-threatening incidents”.

Ultimately, as a result of the changes, Stop the Cuts say response times for “a proper fire engine, with a proper crew” would be “significantly longer” for incidents across Hampshire.

Mr Morris said: “Claims about response times, the capability of smaller vehicles and crews, claims of not compromising safety, and about risk are all less than honest. I would urge people to listen to the firefighters who, day in and day out, come to your aid, as they understand how damaging these proposals will be. They really are concerned about your safety, unlike the fire authority who are only interested in cutting the budget, no matter what the consequences are for Hampshire residents and firefighters. Tell the fire authority their cuts are not acceptable.”

Hampshire Deputy Chief Officer Neil Odin said: “We are aware of some concerns raised from residents across the border in West Sussex regarding our proposals. We encourage Hampshire residents to give us their feedback on these proposals at hantsfire.gov.uk.”