Councillor speaks out after Merseyside Fire and Rescue announce that Crosby fire engine will not return yet

Nov 19 2009 by Janine Yaqoob, Crosby Herald

Councillor speaks out after Merseyside Fire and Rescue announce that Crosby fire engine will not return yet

A LOCAL councillor is calling on Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service to reinstate an engine which was removed from Crosby Fire Station.

Liberal Democrat Merseyside Fire Authority spokesman Jack Colbert, who is also a councillor for Molyneux Ward, is to start a petition to get the second fire engine back.

The appliance was taken in August in light of looming union strike action.

It was relocated to fire headquarters for training purposes when the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) members were considering a mass walkout over a colleague who had been dismissed.

Fire chiefs removed engines from four stations, including Crosby, to train non-frontline staff, but gave assurances that they would all return as soon as the threat of strike action was called off.

At an emergency fire authority meeting earlier this week it was announced that the dispute is now over, after the Fire Authority and the FBU reached an agreement.

But despite this, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer Tony McGuirk said the Crosby engine would not be reinstated at this point as a result of a second ballot regarding overtime being received, although there is no prospect of strike action over this issue. When contacted by the Herald yesterday, MF&RS refused to confirm that the second engine would ever return.

As the fire authority battles to overcome an £8million budget shortfall, fears are growing that Crosby’s second engine may have gone for good.

Cllr Colbert said: “What we are facing here is a budget cut, but using the former threat of strike action as an excuse to lose our second engine.