Fire service 'at breaking point'

Tony Smith, secretary of Herts Fire Brigade Union, has spoken out against Hertfordshire County Council's decision to close Radlett and Bovingdon fire stations last year and warned more cuts to the service would leave it dangerously short.

He said: "Our chief says there are going to be more cuts coming. The cracks are starting to show because the cuts have been too deep and it is time to bring back those two stations and invest something in the service."

Figures released by the county council this week show on top of fires within the county border, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue services attended 852 incidents in neighbouring counties between July and December last year.

Crews from neighbouring counties were called into Hertfordshire 171 times.

However, the county council maintains the number of call-outs is decreasing with crews in Hertfordshire attending 15,971 incidents in 2001/2, compared to 12,460 call-outs last year.

However, on Tuesday a petition containing a signature from almost every resident in Radlett was delivered to the county council demanding the village station reopen.

Stephen Oakes-Monger, of Park Road, Radlett spent two months knocking on every door in Radlett collecting almost 7,000 signatures.

The 48-year-old said: "It is an overwhelming condemnation of the county council's decision to close the fire station."

In the past two months there have been four fires in Radlett. And in March, an aerial ladder platform had to be called from Luton to attend a fire in The Heath, but took so long that the blaze was out before it arrived.

It is also alleged that, on at least one occasion, crews coming from across the county could not find their way to the fires in the village.

However, a county council spokesperson said: "Since the closure, the residents of Radlett have received a level of fire cover in line with the rest of the county and have not faced any increased risk."