WINCHESTER Fire Station could see its full-time staffing slashed under cost-cutting plans affecting nearly 50 bases across Hampshire, the Chronicle has learnt.

The city service will be unable to guarantee overnight cover if 14 of the station’s 34 full-time posts are cut, a concerned firefighter has said.

Between two and five part-time staff would be on call overnight – meaning they can leave work and go home if they wish.

Union representative Andy Collings said the Winnall station currently employs 40 staff – 34 full-time and six part-time – but warned this would change to 20 full-time and 14 part-time posts under the plans.

The way firefighters respond to calls is expected to change, with some heading to incidents in smaller vehicles rather than traditional fire engines.

A city firefighter, who asked not to be named, told the Chronicle: “It is worrying at this stage. If this goes ahead there will be no guaranteed cover in Winchester overnight. We have been going through the risks. There’s a lot of heritage and life risk in Winchester.

“It’s scary,” he added. “You kind of get the impression that the figures will not be understood, so they won’t realise what’s happening.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s proposed cuts are part of a county-wide drive to save up to £5 million by 2017/18, plugging a £12.2 million budget hole forced by Government austerity. Winchester firefighters were told this week that their positions are up for review and service chiefs are inviting feedback.

Detailed plans will be presented to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority on September 9 ahead of a formal 12-week consultation. If the proposals go ahead unchanged, Winchester will lose the full-time posts in April 2016.

Mr Collings, Winchester’s Fire Brigades Union representative, said: “We’re going to be challenging it because we feel the risk in this area is huge and would warrant whole-time cover throughout the night, because of the number of road traffic collisions and things like the prison, the cathedral – which is a massive heritage risk – other heritage risks and further development like Barton Farm.

“It doesn’t sit easy with us.”

No stations are expected to close in Hampshire, but at a performance review and scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, chief officer Dave Curry said almost every one of the service's 50 stations will "change in some way”.

He refused to discuss potential staff cuts with the Chronicle, saying: “If I started to talk about that in the public domain then I’m maybe presetting a very, very important stage of this process.

“I fear I will overshadow those professional firefighters’ views. I’m visiting all my stations and conversing about the future of the services.”

Hampshire Chronicle:

Dave Curry

Cllr Mark Cooper, Hampshire county councillor for Romsey, told the meeting that staff were worried about the effect the revamp would have on performance.

Cllr Keith Chapman, chairman of the performance review and scrutiny committee, told the Chronicle: "We're looking at all possibilities of delivering the service probably slightly differently to what we have done before, because things have changed much in firefighting techniques, our responses and all sorts of stuff.

"The techniques are changing completely, so regardless of whether we're saving money or not, the way the service is going is changing completely."

He stressed no decisions have been made, adding: "The managers don't always come up with the right ideas or the right way forward."

The news comes as the service revealed it spent £1 million sick pay over the last year as long-term absence rates rose by 20 per cent.

Absences have risen by 5.1 per cent, with musculoskeletal injuries – including back problems and broken bones – accounting for 44 per cent of leave days.

Breathing conditions and illnesses accounted for 20 per cent of people off sick while 17 per cent had digestive ailments.