Whistle blowers are likely to be urged to give their names in future if they report suspected fraud, corruption or theft within West Yorkshire Fire Authority.

New rules for dealing with criminal activity will be discussed by members at their meeting on Friday when they will consider adopting an official policy to deal with it.

Bradford's Liberal Democrat Lord Mayor elect Councillor Allan Hillary, a member of the authority, said they wanted people to give information about suspected wrong doing. "The thing we are trying to stop is spurious allegations which can cause distress and have to be investigated.

"We want openness and transparency but would respect people's requests for anonymity wherever possible. However, the consequences would be very serious for people making malicious of false allegations and they would face disciplinary action."

Coun Hillary, who is also a member of the authority's standards committee, said they also wanted to get the message across to employees and authority members that they had a duty to report suspected misdoing and not ignore it.

Director of finance Richard Hewitson will tell members the proposed strategy is aimed at a minority of people who may attempt to abuse the system. If the policy is approved by the authority it will:

l encourage information exchange, remembering there are two sides to every story;

l make it clear that vigilance is part of the job and that knowingly not raising concerns is a serious disciplinary offence;

l make it safe and simple to convey critical information and ensure discretion;

l protect employees from reprisals.