WITH just two weeks to go until councillors decide the fate of Ulverston's permanent fire crew we are backing the firefighters who want to protect services.

Cumbria County Council is proposing to scrap the evening full-time cover in Ulverston between the hours of 8pm and 8am.

Under the proposals, one full-time fire crew will be removed from Ulverston and a new on-call crew will be created in Barrow.

The council has revealed the cuts will not save any money but claims it will "improve the spread of full-time and on-call firefighters across the peninsula to match the risk and demand profile".

The changes would mean the whole of South Cumbria would be left with just ONE full-time 24/7 fire engine at night.

Firefighters in Ulverston argue the changes will mean the service will become too reliant on on-call crews - they also question the need for the £4.6m Blue Light Hub which would be empty during the evenings if the proposals go ahead.

On-call crews are based at Walney, Ulverston, Millom, Bootle, Broughton, Ambleside, Windermere, Coniston, Arnside, Kirkby Lonsdale and Staveley. Dalton's on-call station was closed in 2014 and in 2016 Walney was given a last-minute reprieve after a massive public backlash to Cumbria County Council's plans to close it.

The council was criticised earlier this month for claiming the changes would increase the number of fire engines covering the Furness peninsula from four to five but admitted this was incorrect when challenged by The Mail .

The service already has a fifth fire engine - the Barrow resilience crew which was introduced when Dalton fire station was closed in 2014 along with the creation of a full-time crew in Ulverston, but the resilience crew has only been used four or five times since it was set up.

The resilience crew has also never had a driver capable of exceeding the speed limit and currently has just three firefighters - not enough to man a fire engine.

Earlier this week, Ulverston Town Council aired grave concerns over the proposed downgrade of the town's fire station.

The council was denied a chance to debate the proposed changes ahead of the consultation as they were never formally notified it would be taking place.

Who will make the final decision?

Whether or not to go ahead with the controversial proposals will fall to members of Cumbria County Council's Lib Dem/Labour cabinet, made up of councillors:

Stewart Young (Labour - Carlisle),

Anne Burns (Labour - Barrow),

Deborah Earle (Labour - Carlisle),

Keith Little (Labour - Maryport),

David Southward MBE (Labour - Egremont),

Peter Thornton (Lib Dem - Kendal),

Celia Tibble (Labour - Wigton),

Ian Stewart (Lib Dem - Arnside),

Janet Willis (Lib Dem - Ulverston/Greenodd),

Sue Sanderson (Lib Dem - Cartmel).

When will the cabinet meet to make their decision?

A decision will be made at the cabinet's meeting at 10am on February 2 at Cumbria House in Carlisle.

What has the council said about the proposed changes?

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “We have to look at how best to use the resources we have available. We’ve use detailed data over the last six years to understand the level of risk in different parts of South Cumbria and help us to decide where to locate our resources to minimise the risk for the maximum number of people – this is a balancing act.

“The current proposals reflect our assessment that the level of risk is higher in Barrow, and we need to strengthen provision in the town.

"Last year, the Ulverston full-time fire engine did not get used between midnight and 7am for almost 340 nights of the year. We fully understand that for the 25 nights of the year that it was used, it was important.

"However, it is not a good use of resources to have firefighters at the fire station at night when demand is so low and risk elsewhere is higher.”