The public is being urged to write to the Home Secretary over proposals to axe the heavy rescue tender at Idle fire station.

The call to contact Jack Straw has come from union representatives and West Yorkshire Fire Authority, which today admitted the controversial issue can no longer be dealt with on a local level.

County deputy chief fire officer Phil Toase said: "We've now gone through the public consultation stage at a local level and if anyone wants to pursue it further, the only thing they can do is write to the Home Office."

Fire Authority members voted last month to axe four emergency tenders, including one at Idle, in favour of upgrading 16 front-line appliances. In addition, two major rescue units will be based at Cleckheaton and Hunslet, Leeds.

Mr Toase said: "While I have some sympathy for the Idle area, we provide a service to the whole of West Yorkshire. The positioning of the two major rescue tenders means they will be able to hit all the motorway networks quickly.

"I am willing to attend a meeting with local objectors, if they wish to arrange one, to allay their fears and explain the professional and technical reasons behind these proposals."

The proposals, which will save around £500,000, have angered firefighters, who argue lives will be put at risk because the new-generation engines will not be able to carry all the equipment.

In a letter to the Telegraph & Argus, Fire Brigades Union branch chairman Steve Cawood, said: "I am quite sure the people of Bradford would like to have their say in what sort of service they are paying for.

"We are led to believe that there will be a public meeting, but in the meantime I would ask people to write to Jack Straw and ask him to refuse this application.

"The new generation of rescue pumps are not an addition for the fleet, but a replacement for existing fire engines."

Firefighters in Idle have already collected more than 600 signatures on a petition opposing the decommissioning of the local emergency tender and three others at Wakefield, Gipton and Huddersfield.

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