North Yorkshire firefighter flood role sparks alert

4:30pm Thursday 20th November 2008

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THEY do a first-class job in helping householders and businesses whose premises have been flooded out when torrential rain hits York and North Yorkshire.

But a leading city councillor warned today that the ability of firefighters to pump out buildings and give other assistance could be hampered if the Government presses ahead with cuts in funding for North Yorkshire.

Coun Ken King, vice-chairman of North Yorkshire Fire Authority, said cutbacks could lead to shortages of firefighters and equipment which would reduce their ability to tackle flooding.

He said: “Living in a city with two rivers, we have problems with flooding on a yearly basis, and firefighters do give assistance wherever possible, even though this is not a statutory duty.

“But if the cutbacks are made it may not be possible to carry out such work as often.

“There may not be the firefighters to turn out or they might not have the equipment needed to assist.”

His comments came as signatures poured in for The Press’s Fight The Fire Cuts campaign, which is calling for the service to be given a fairer grant to ensure firefighters can continue to respond to fires and other emergencies, while also delivering a comprehensive fire prevention service.

The Government is planning to increase its grant to North Yorkshire by only 0.5 per cent in the next financial year, and by the same amount the following year – considerably less than the current 4.5 per cent rate of inflation.

Nine other authorities across England are facing the same cut in real terms, and campaigning for a better settlement.

Petition coupons signed by readers have been arriving daily at The Press’s offices in Walmgate, York, with other readers registering their support online.

But another important source of signatures has been in the shops which sell The Press, many of which have agreed to put our petition forms on their counters. Shopkeepers say customers have been flocking to sign the forms.

We would ask retailers to return their petition forms to the newspaper by the beginning of next week, so they can be passed to York’s Labour MP Hugh Bayley, who has agreed to present the petition on the floor of the House of Commons at Westminster.