PRESSURE is mounting on Northumberland County Council to halt plans to close the part-time fire station at Haydon Bridge.

Campaigners are urging the authority to follow the lead of Cumbria, where five stations threatened with closure have been reprieved because of the vital role they played in the battle against the winter floods which have ravaged the county.

The 1960s-built station at Haydon Bridge is in line for the axe as part of a package to trim £500,000 from the fire and rescue service budget in Northumberland.

Opponents include local councillors, Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman, the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU), and more than 2,500 members of public who signed a petition which was handed to the council’s deputy leader Dave Ledger at a recent public meeting.

FBU branch secretary for Northumberland, Guy Tiffin, said: “This challenge comes after members of Cumbria County Council’s cabinet demonstrated decisive leadership in their rejection of similar proposals in their own county.

“Cumbria County Council stated that the views expressed by members of the public about their extreme concern at public meetings, and through other forms of public consultation, had impacted on their decision.

“That being the case, the FBU is challenging the Labour-led authority in Northumberland to take heed of similar responses to the proposed cuts in their backyard.

“Northumberland’s fire and rescue service has suffered many of the same cutbacks that Cumbria has, while also enduring much of the same extreme weather and floods.

“The proposals under consultation by Northumberland do nothing to improve public safety.

“If Cumbria’s councillors believe that public safety should be prioritised above all else, why can’t Northumberland’s?”

Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman has also turned the heat on council leader Grant Davey and Northumberland fire chief Alex Bennett.

He said: “Cumbria County Council has now rightly recognised how important the fire service is; not least when it comes to major events such as flooding.

“This is a decision by the county council’s Labour leadership. Everyone accepts the council must tighten its belt, but that is about choices.”

Mr Opperman questioned the fire station proposal by a cash-strapped council which is set to spend almost £40m on moving its headquarters from Morpeth, to a new build in Ashington.

He added: “Closing our fire station is the wrong choice. Protecting our fire stations is clearly a higher priority than Labour building themselves a new headquarters.

“They should follow Cumbria’s lead and reverse their plans to close Haydon Bridge fire station.”

The fire station at Haydon Bridge played a key strategic role during the worst floods in living memory, during the weekend of December 5 and 6.

The village’s retained fire crews worked tirelessly to pump water away from affected properties and streets, while the station served as an essential base for crews who arrived from elsewhere.

Led by Haydon Parish Council, villagers in Haydon Bridge have fought a relentless campaign to save their fire station, since consultation got under way in November.

They believe losing the fire station would put lives at risk in a community with an increasing population, two major roads, a railway station, a river, and two schools.

And they strongly dispute the county council’s claim that Haydon Bridge would be sufficiently covered by neighbouring stations at Hexham, Allendale and Haltwhistle.

Figures provided by the local authority during the consultation period have also been hotly disputed.

These include the number of incidents attended by Haydon Bridge‘s retained crews, and the annual saving which would be accrued if the station was to close.