HOPES of reviving Haydon Bridge’s former fire station have been dashed, after it emerged that the site has been sold.

In May, Haydon Parish Council called for a review of last year’s decision by the previous Labour administration at Northumberland County Council to close the retained station as part of a county-wide cost cutting programme.

But at last Wednesday’s full county council meeting at County Hall in Morpeth, the newly-elected Conservative group said there was no going back.

Coun. John Riddle, the council’s fire authority chairman, said: “If I had been in post last year, I might have looked for cuts in other areas.

“But in relation to Haydon Bridge, the previous administration put the site up for sale and it has now been sold. There is no going back.”

The county council said it was not prepared to identify the buyer at this stage, but warned that a planning application could be expected in due course.

Haydon Parish Council had been keen for it to be retained for community use and previously raised fears over a possible sale to a housing developer.

Coun. Georgina Hill, of Berwick East, called on the Conservatives to reverse last year’s decision, which aimed to trim £500,000 from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service’s budget as a result of Government pressure to make savings.

Meanwhile, the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) has warned that a trial scheme elsewhere in Northumberland is putting lives at risk.

The ‘phased response’ scheme, currently under way in Wooler and Seahouses, enables fire crews of just three firefighters to attend incidents.

While such small crews could only respond to small fires considered ‘low risk’, the FBU said a minimum crew of five was required in case the fire developed into a life-threatening situation.

l Northumberland County Council has invited residents to have their say on future plans for the fire service.

A draft version of the service’s four-year plan, setting out its priorities until 2021, has been drawn up.

Priorities include enhanced working with partner organisations and revising school education programmes.

Public consultation opened on Monday and runs until September 1.

For more information, visit www.northumberland.gov.uk/NFRplan