FIVE fire stations could close and the future of some care homes may be in doubt as Cumbria County Council battles to slice £17.5m off its budget next year. 

The cash-strapped authority has to cut its spending by £80m in the next three years. 

As well as continuing to cut some services, the authority is proposing a two per cent rise in its share of council tax – adding almost £16 to the bill for those in the cheapest Band A properties. 

In its latest bid to meet its savings target, senior politicians from the council have spelled out some areas where the axe may fall. 

They want to strip £5m out of the budget for adult social care provision, moving to a more community-based model of care to cut the need for residential care homes. 

There are also specific proposals to close five part-time fire stations, including Walney.

This would generate annual savings of £438,000, and potentially raise a further £365,000 from the sale of buildings. 

Fire chiefs say the proposals, which are now subject to three months of public consultation, are based on figures which show a low level of demand for each station. 

The plans are part ongoing efforts to comply with continuing government austerity. 

In the past five years, the authority – run by a Labour-Lib Dem coalition – has cut its annual spending by £153m. 

It has yet to identify £55m of the £80m it must save in the next three years. 

By 2018, spending will have dropped by £233m, resulting in a workforce of just 5,200 employees - compared to 10,000 three years ago. 

The authority’s Labour leader, Stewart Young, said he was committed to protecting front-line services, but warned that tough choices will have to be made. 

His Conservative opponent James Airey accused the administration of not being sufficiently transparent with the public. 

Cllr Young said: “It’s obviously going to get a much more difficult. We are largely a people organisation, and most of our expenditure is on staffing. 

“The consequence of this round of cuts over the next three years will be 1,800 staff will go, but that is not a precise figure. 

"That’s 1,800 people’s wages which will no longer be fed into the Cumbrian economy.” 

Councillor Patricia Bell, deputy leader and the cabinet member for resources, said the council wanted to expand “extra care housing” provision, meaning homes with facilities that allow residents to stay in them even when they become very elderly and more dependent on outside support. 

If this reduced the demand for council-run homes, then some may close. 

The authority runs 28 care homes, two residential respite care centres, three supported living centres and four day care services. 

Graeme Higgins, brigade secretary of the FBU in Cumbria, said: “The safety of the public and firefighters will be absolutely devastated if these proposals are adopted.

"At the moment in Cumbria we can have as many as 15 fire engines unavailable at a time due to a lack of staff.

"It makes no sense to cut firefighter numbers. Retained firefighters contribute a lot to the firefighting service the public receive in Cumbria.

“Retained fire stations and firefighters are vital to rural communities such as Cumbria.

"The council state that these stations have been earmarked for closure because there is a low level of demand.

"However if these proposals go ahead we’ll be looking at a 10 – 15 minute delay between a member of the public reporting an emergency to when a fire engine will arrive on the scene.

"That delay could be the difference between life and death.”