FURIOUS residents fear lives will be lost if Bewdley fire station is closed in favour of a relocated central Emergency Services Hub.

Around 50 people, including residents, councillors, current and retired firefighters and Civic Society members, attended the third and final public meeting – held at St George’s Hall in Bewdley on Monday (October 12) – on the proposed £5.9million Wyre Forest Emergency Services Hub.

The plan by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) will see the two Kidderminster crews and the retained Stourport and Bewdley stations relocated to one location – yet to be chosen. It will also house police, ambulance and voluntary organisations.

Project manager and HWFRS area commander, Mark Preece, told the meeting pressures to balance the budget, a reduction in call outs and chance to work together and share intelligence with other services were driving factors for the proposal.

But residents in Bewdley fear the loss of the retained station in the town, which is covered by part-time firefighters, will result in putting lives at risk and result in longer response times.

Mel Turbutt, a Bewdley resident and retired firefighter, said: “I know only too well how important our fire and rescue service is and it breaks my heart to seen it torn apart by policies which I am certain will result in lives being lost.

“The proposal for how the appliances at the new station would be crewed and mobilised are nothing short of ridiculous. These include retained firefighters having to travel from their homes in Bewdley and Stourport adhering to the Highway Code and with no blue lights to turn out in appliances stationed in Kidderminster.

“Response times will be absolutely appalling on occasion, especially for outlying parishes.

“I dearly love my home town and many of my friends and family live in Bewdley. At the end of the day, my sole concern in all of this is the danger our town and its inhabitants will be put in if our fire station is closed.”

Steve Gould, secretary of the Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigades Union, said: “Adding another three minutes on to our attendance time is the difference between life and death. We believe it is going to put the public at risk.

“Having to wait 13 minutes for an appliance to attend a house fire at your home is dangerous. Why change something that is working?

“We can have a Wyre Forest Hub without closing the two stations. We are opposing the closure of Bewdley and Stourport stations.”

The audience at Monday night’s meeting was shown data which showed the number of all call outs in Wyre Forest had dropped from 1,278 in 2010/11 to 899 in 2014/15. In Bewdley, the figures show incidents had reduced from 146 to 91 in the same period.

Mr Preece also said the service faced a potential funding gap of £3.3million by 2020 due to Government grant cuts.

HWFS has secured a £2.4million ring-fenced grant towards the central hub while the remaining £3.5million would come from the sale of the three stations.

Mr Preece said: “We are not changing the amount of appliances which cover Wyre Forest. That will remain as it is – they will remain in Wyre Forest but be based at a central hub if it goes forward.

“We are faced with changes. This is a proposal that offers us various other options without completely closing down the stations.

“If the public do not support us and the hub does not go ahead we will have to give the money back and if we don’t take this proposal we have still got savings to achieve.

“With moving to a central hub we can also work with our blue light partners.

“We would not do something that would put people in danger.”

The overall consultation runs until Friday, November 27, with a final decision set to be taken in February next year.