A decision to stop firefighters in Hertfordshire using a motor on its water rescue boat has been branded "terrible" and "sad".

Last month, the power unit was removed from the inflatable rescue boat crews use for missions on water in the county.

It came following a review of the fire service's water rescue capabilities after a firefighter in Wales died in 2019 during a water training exercise.

But one source within Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue says those who have been operating the outboard motor in Hertfordshire are "highly trained" and they fear the emergency service could no longer be relied on when it is needed most.

The source, who does not want to be named, said: "It is a terrible decision and it’s literally beyond belief that they are now relying on non-blue light response volunteers.

"The large water rescue boat at Hatfield was already removed from service over a year ago without reason or cost saving, and now this move has been replicated with this smaller capability.

"Firefighters will have to use the hand paddles when deploying this equipment putting them in unnecessary danger by forcing them to hand-row the boat in potentially spate weather conditions, or call on one of two voluntary Hertfordshire-based organisations, one a canoe club and the other a water response charity, if they need motorised water rescue facilities.

"The boats and their outboard motors are in excellent working condition with no additional training required to maintain their readiness - the Hatfield team is already highly trained for emergency water rescue.

"It’s a very sad place when we can no longer promise anyone that help will be on its way when they dial the once magnificent and reliable 999 services."

A report published by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch in 2020 said at around 11.25am on September 17 2019, two fire and rescue service boats collided while undertaking boat training on the River Cleddau near Milford Haven in Wales.

The report says the fatal collision occurred because "both boats were operating at speed and carrying out un-coordinated manoeuvres" on the same stretch of the river.

The manoeuvres resulted in the boats "heading towards each other" and crashing.

No-one was in overall charge of the training, the report added, and the operation of the boats "did not adhere to the requirements of the local standard operating procedures or risk assessments".

In light of what happened, the National Fire Chief’s Council was recommended to adopt a nationwide standard of boat operations for all craft capable of being operated at sea by any fire and rescue service across the UK.

After criticism of its decision to remove the outboard motor, a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council - which is responsible for Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue - said: "We understand that some firefighters will be disappointed by the decision to remove the outboard motor from the water rescue unit, however our priority is to keep people safe. We don’t want to put our firefighters, or the public, at risk by training with potentially hazardous equipment that we don’t actually need for rescue operations.

"Following a fatal accident in September 2019, where a firefighter from Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service died during a water training exercise, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has reviewed its own water rescue capabilities to make sure we take on board the lessons identified in the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report. This has included reviewing whether we need to operate powered boats at all.

"After reviewing the last six years of operational data, and water risk assessments for the county, we have concluded that there is no need for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to operate powered boats. None of the water risk assessments for the county have identified the need for a motorised boat, and powered boats have only been used operationally twice in the last six years, and neither of those incidents was wholly reliant on an outboard motor.

"In the unlikely event that Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service should need additional resources in the future, there are existing arrangements with two volunteer organisations, Herts Boat Rescue and Herts Canoe Lifeguards who can provide support on request."

In response, the source said: "Emergency services cover should never be about the statistics of how many times a piece of equipment has been used in the past.

"It should be viewed as something that might be needed in the future."