AMID fears frontline services may be cut, the county’s retained fire and rescue service will receive investment in the coming years.

It was revealed at the recent Northumberland County Council cabinet meeting that the authority was looking to develop the service provided by the county’s retained fire and rescue crews.

Bellingham county councillor John Riddle, the cabinet member with responsibility for the fire service, announced the plans in response to fears that half of Northumberland’s stations could close and staffing numbers would reduce after the council revealed each department would face cuts as it needed to make provisional savings of £24m within the next three years.

Instead of losing frontline services, though, Coun. Riddle said there were schemes in place to improve the retained service throughout Northumberland.

In recent months, the initial rate for a retained firefighter attending an incident had quadrupled from £2.50 to £10, while there were plans in place to give bonuses to stations which have full teams available for a certain percentage of the year. As a further incentive, businesses which allowed their employees time off to act as retained firefighters could have the opportunity to advertise on the side of fire engines.

Coun. Riddle said: “There was a suggestion that cuts might have to be made to frontline services or closing stations, but that isn’t what we are doing. The efficiencies will come from elsewhere.

“In Northumberland, we are the smallest UK fire and rescue service in terms of numbers, but of course we have got quite a big area to serve and, I believe, the only way to keep the engines running and area served is through the retained service. It’s about getting things done better rather than stopping things.”