THE number of full-time fire crews in Brentwood will be halved – despite the end of a four-year industrial dispute between firefighters and managers at Essex Fire and Rescue.
Fire crews had been at loggerheads with their management over plans to cut the number of full-time fire crews stationed at Brentwood, as the fire service seeks to cut £10 million from its operating budget.
But that dispute has now come to an end as the Fire Brigade Union accepted the assurances from chief fire officer David Johnson to maintain the overall numbers of whole-time firefighters across Essex up to March 2015.
Brentwood fire station campaigner Russell Quirk said: "I'm as relieved as most that the protracted and problematic industrial dispute has now been brought to a close.
"The sacrificial lamb in all this remains as Brentwood with the loss of 50 per cent of its full time firefighters, thus leaving our town vulnerable. I am still unable to accept this."
Keith Handscomb, an executive member of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "The challenges ahead are huge as the fire and rescue service faces the most severe cuts ever in central Government funding."
Chief fire officer David Johnson said that while both parties would acknowledge there remain differences, it was time to look forward.
He said: "The service will face financial challenges over the next couple of years and it is important for us all to focus our energies on the future."